IJFMS Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2014 © Blue Square Publishing House

IJFMS Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2014 © Blue Square Publishing House INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR MARKETING STUDIES (International Peer- Reviewed Journal) ======Volume 1 Contents Issue 1 ======Editorial pp.6-9 1. A Comprehensive Study On The Marketing Factors of The Recent Bengali Films Considering Indian Movie Industry

Jyotirmoy Mazumder,India pp.10-30

2. Factors Influence The Consumers To Utilise The Leisure Services . Dr. P.N.Raghunathan, India pp.31-41

3. Global Challenges Of Educational Marketing Dr. Felicia Ramona Birău, Romania pp.42-46 4. Sustainable Tourism Marketing: Proposal Of An Optimal Mix Dharna Shukla , UAE pp.47-56 5. A Study On The Online Participation Of The Customers And Their Overall Satisfaction about the Online Services Provided By the Life Insurance Corporation of India

Dr. Partha Sarathi Choudhuri, India pp.57-67

6. Hospitality And Its Importance To The Tourism Industry: A Case Study On Selected Hotels In Kolkata Dr. Debaprasad Banerjee, India pp.68-89 7. Role Of Self-Help Groups In Women Empowerment: With Special Reference To Shivamogga District

Durgappa; Dr. Akash S.B., India pp.90-107

International Journal for Marketing Studies (IJFMS) is bi-monthly journal. No part of this journal may be reproduced or copied in any form by any means without prior written permission. Blue Square Publishing House holds the copy right to all articles contributed to its publications. The views expressed in this journal (IJFMS) are entirely personal judgments of the authors which do not reflect the views of the publishers/ publication team. All efforts have been exerted to ensure that the published information is correct in accordance with the manuscripts sent by the authors to Blue Square Publishing House. Blue Square Publishing House / Editorial team is not responsible for any errors caused due to oversight/technical faults or otherwise. 2

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EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

 ASHISH KHANRA, PHD, CENTRAL POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE, INDIA

 DILLIP KUMAR DAS, PHD, THE UNIVERSITY OF BURDWAN, INDIA

 ESMAIEL SAADATFARD, PHD, NOORE TOUBA UNIVERSITY, IRAN

 JAYAKRISHNAN S, SCMS SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, COCHIN, INDIA

 JOSE G. VARGAS-HERNANDEZ, PHD, UNIVERSITY OF GUADALAJARA, MEXICO

 PARTHA SARATHI CHOUDHURI, PHD, THE UNIVERSITY OF BURDWAN, INDIA

 RASHAD-AL-SAED, PHD, SKYLINE UNIVERSITY, UAE

 SOFIA DASKOU, INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL FOR THE MARKETING PROFESSION

 SOUJI GOPALAKRISHNA PILLAI, PHD, HELP UNIVERSITY, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA

 SOUMENDRA BISWAS, PHD, INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TOURISM AND TRAVEL MANAGEMENT, INDIA

IJFMS Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2014 © Blue Square Publishing House

EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD

 BIRAU RAMONA, PHD, RESEARCH INSPECTOR, D.G.F.P DOLJ, ROMANIA

 FRASER TOM TENOVA, PHD, EXECUTIVE BRAND AND COMMUNICATIONS, MINING AND MINERAL DIVISION, SOUTH AFRICA

 LAVANCHAWEE BRAHMOPALA SUJARITTANONTA, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, I-SHOU UNIVERSITY, TAIWAN

 PRATAP DESAI PATIL, PHD, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, BHARATI VIDYAPEETH DEEMED UNIVERSITY, PUNE, INDIA

 PRITIKA SINGH BALIYAN, PHD, LECTURER, DEPARTMENT OF ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE, UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA, GABORONE, BOTSWANA

 PRIYANKA P V, PHD, DIRECTOR, BANGALORE UNIVERSITY, INDIA

 RAMESH FULGAONKAR, PHD, PRINCIPAL, SHRI D.D.VISPUTE COLLEGE OF SCIENCE, COMMERCE AND MANAGEMENT, NEW-PANVEL, INDIA

 SAURAV SEN, PHD, SUNBEAM COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, INDIA

 S M HUSSAIN, PHD, GROUP DIRECTOR, ITM, ALIGARH, INDIA

IJFMS Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2014 © Blue Square Publishing House

Acknowledgement

I acknowledge my indebtedness to all the members of editorial advisory board and technical reviewers of this first issue. I am also grateful to all the authors whose valued contributions have enriched this issue. I wish to thank our all officials and staffs of Blue Square Publishing House of their invaluable efforts, great support and valuable advice for this successful publication of this first issue. In particular I wish to put on record the timely guidance and co-operation received from all Board members.

Managing Editor Professor D Ghosh © International Journal for Marketing Studies

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Editorial

This journal is a compilation of various research papers based largely in India and also from Dubai and Romania. The themes and the issues are of wide representations ranging from managing customer knowledge to infrastructure requirement for tourism development and from leisure industry to educational institutions. The promises of tourism, insurance, hotel industry, entertainment industry as well as educational industry are some other topics of discussions in this journal. I sincerely think that these issues are of paramount importance and have been pretty well researched and commented in the form of research papers in this issue. At the same time the authors also seek for greater analysis and further study in all these areas of infrastructure development and building of a more vibrant, viable, sustainable and stable economy in all the growing economies of the world.

Paper 1 discussed about Bollywood or Tollywood, both use marketing tools for various promotional factors in film business. Hindi movies have gone global with higher gross income, whereas South Indian films have also reached some clusters to grow business. Various genre films have been produced in top six local language films, except Hindi. Distribution has gone digital, along with increase in multiplex, but unfortunate decrease in single screens pan India. Bengali cinema gained some budget & marketing expenditure to boost its business, increasing the gross income, but far behind from even South Indian film success. Hence, various film promotion techniques are used with increase in audience research, where Word of Mouth plays as a major tool across all demographic levels.

Paper 2 highlights in general about the study area and its geography-wise population. And this study reveals the importance of the study and statement of the problem. Main objectives of the study are to study the general profile of leisure services in Coimbatore District and to find the relationship between the demographic factors and utilization of leisure services in the

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study area. After the analysis it is found that sex, educational qualification, family income, level of awareness are positively correlated and age, marital status, occupation, family size, monthly average spending amount are negatively correlated with the level of utilization.

Paper 3 concentrates about the global challenges of educational marketing. Educational marketing is perceived as an interdisciplinary extension of the traditional marketing approach. Educational marketing is exploring possibilities for satisfying consumer cultural and educational needs in order to gain competitive advantage. The demand for goods and services (non-material) in this particular area is dependent on the intensity of consumer intrinsic motivation. In recent past, educational marketing represented an issue of major interest for academics, public authorities and the business community specialized in the field of marketing.

Paper 4 highlights regarding Marketing mix is seen as a tool that leads to a product offering to the target market. This is either traditionally done by various combinations of the 4 P‟s, namely Price, Product, Promotion and Place or through an extension of the Four P‟s to Seven P‟s namely People, Process and Physical Evidence. The Four C‟s namely Consumer wants and needs, Communication, Cost and Convenience have also been involved lately as a consumer oriented alternative to the Seven P‟s. The Seven P‟s have also been cross- referenced with the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable tourism as a solution to arrive at various optimal mixes and alleviate sustainable tourism issues. This paper attempts at arriving at an optimal mix that looks at another set of Four C‟s of sustainable or responsible tourism namely Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce being cross-referenced with the Four C‟s of the marketing mix. This optimal mix aims at providing sustainable options to the tourism market also aiding tourism marketers to handle important issues surrounding sustainability.

Paper 5 describes that in modern age of the society, the technology savvy customers are becoming highly dependent on the information technology (IT) and they are fulfilling their various needs and requirements through internet which is actually replacing the human interactions by the interactions of human-technology. Satisfaction of the customers depends on a number of factors and based on these factors customers generally try to estimate their overall satisfaction with their service providers. As customer satisfaction has now become the ultimate goal to the different service providers so like any other companies, Life Insurance 7

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Corporation of India (LICI) is also trying to develop its IT infrastructure in order to provide better information technology enabled services to their customers than before.

Paper 6 highlights about tourism plays a large role in the world economy and is an important source of wealth for many countries, particularly developing countries where tourism may be the main source of economic prosperity. In recent years, the term hospitality has become increasingly popular and may be interpreted in a number of ways whether it is commercial or industrial and public services. In recent years, the term hospitality has become increasingly popular and may be interpreted in a number of ways whether it is commercial or industrial and public services. There are several components in the tourism industry, for example, food and beverages, lodging, place of attractions, and transportation. All three components are related to the hospitality. Each of the components has the connection to each other. Hotel guests spend money in the retail, recreation, transportation and restaurant sectors. And hotels provide a forum for business meetings, trade shows and conventions which in turn generate economic growth. At the same time the industry faces increasing pressure to balance its economic performance with its social and environmental impacts. Acknowledging that this is the context in which we conduct our business, we believe that travel and tourism should be operated responsibly and that the long-term benefits of taking this approach far outweigh the costs. In this study, tourists both domestic and international have been surveyed on their level of perceptions and satisfactions on various factors of tourism resources, destination image, product offering, destination competitiveness and level of satisfaction.

Paper 7 highlights the level of economic equality and independence are the real indicator to measure the status of women. In India, the general economic situation is far from satisfactory, the situation of women being worst than that of men in respect of education, nutrition, freedom, health, life expectation, wage earning and political participation. In view of this govt. of India had launched different programmes for uplift the social and economic status of women. Among different programmes, the recent programmes is the self help group bank linkage p r o g r ammes which was launched and managed by NABARD, to allows SHG to obtain loan from bank like commercial, rural, and cooperative banks. The success of SHGs not only improved the economic status of women, but also brought lot of changes in their social status.

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With this back drop the study assumed great importance to study the plight of role of self -help groups in empowerment of women.

I congratulate the contributors and Editorial Advisory Board members and Review Committee members who had put in a lot of effort and time in bringing out this journal to address many vital concerns for a better understanding of the issues surrounding our economy.

Editor-In –Chief Professor N Ray © International Journal for Marketing Studies

IJFMS Volume 1, Issue 1, May 2014 © Blue Square Publishing House

A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY ON THE MARKETING FACTORS OF THE RECENT BENGALI FILMS CONSIDERING INDIAN MOVIE INDUSTRY

Mr. Jyotirmoy Mazumder, Head,Department of BBA (H), Tarakeswar Degree College, West Bengal, India ======

ABSTRACT

Bollywood or Tollywood, both use marketing tools for various promotional factors in film business. Hindi movies have gone global with higher gross income, whereas South Indian films have also reached some clusters to grow business. Various genre films have been produced in top six local language films, except Hindi. Distribution has gone digital, along with increase in multiplex, but unfortunate decrease in single screens pan India. Bengali cinema gained some budget & marketing expenditure to boost its business, increasing the gross income, but far behind from even South Indian film success. Hence, various film promotion techniques are used with increase in audience research, where Word of Mouth plays as a major tool across all demographic levels.

Keywords: Marketing, Strategy, Film promotion, language film, genre, film industry, single screen, multiplex, research, brand, Word of Mouth. ======

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Introduction

The Journal of the Bengal Motion Pictures Association had coined the word, Tollywood - way back in the thirties- to describe a certain kind of „progressive‟ (read „Westernised‟) cinema produced by Calcutta‟s Tollygunge Studios (Derek Bose 2005). The film industry based in Kolkata, West Bengal, is sometimes referred as "Tollywood", a portmanteau of the words Tollygunge, a neighbourhood of Calcutta where most of the Bengali film studios are located, and Hollywood. Tollywood was the very first Hollywood-inspired name, dating back to a 1932 article in the American Cinematographer by Wilford E. Deming, an American engineer who was involved in the production of the first Indian sound film. He gave the industry the name Tollywood because the Tollygunge district in which it was based rhymed with "Hollywood"(Wikipedia 2012).

The prime six big language film markets, as described by National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) in current years, apart from Hindi, are – Telegu, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada and Malayalam. The importance of marketing strategy hence arises as compared to Hindi Film Industry. In recent years, The box office collections for Bengali films has started to reach figures as high as Rs 5-6 crore, which is a significant increase from the past half decade. Films such as „Bhuter Bhobiswat‟, „Baishe Shrabon‟, „Autograph‟, „Mishor Rohosso‟, „Chander Pahar‟, „Shobdo‟, „Muktodhara‟ etc. have walked the tightrope between box office and critical fame with dexterity. A good story or script has become a main key for this success.

Nevertheless, the mainstream Bengali films also remain more or less successful. Investment by various major producers, in a range up to 6-8 crores, has been seen with a focus to good glossy picturisation to catch the market. Big houses have entered to invest due to which FICCI has come along to help this industry now. A chain of both multiplexes and single theatre movie halls are now used for the promotion and to run the films. But there arise the question of marketing strategy of the films. Bengali films are not that way been marketed as done in Bollywood pattern or any other South Indian Film industry. Producers are not yet 11

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ready to spend some money on the promotional activities of the films in larger manner. Their primary focus in only the South Bengal market, neglecting the North Bengal market as the population are low there and rest of the country where Bengali culture remains and other people may also see the films with subtitle. In adverse, the numbers of single theatre halls have come down, piracy has gone up, more tax has been levied and effect of television is diminishing the importance of movie going.

In the 1980s & 90s, the Bengal film industry went through a period of turmoil, with a shift from its traditional artistic and emotional inclinations to an approach more imitating the increasingly more popular Hindi films, along with a decline in the audience and critical appreciation. Over the last few years, Bengali cinema has been on the comeback path and produced commercially successful films with original & remake content. The Bengali film industry is moving into a phase where both a good script and proper promotion are required for a film‟s commercial success. Increasingly, as Bengali films vie with Bollywood films for audience pull, film makers need to have a marketing and promotion strategy to attract film buffs. Further, while critically acclaimed films in Bengali have failed to draw crowds largely because of their poor publicity; smaller yet effectively marketed and distributed films are drawing the audiences‟ attention. EIMPA (Eastern India Motion Pictures Association) plays a significant role about all aspects of film in this part of the country to promote and support film industry.

Hence, it is important that Bengali films targeted at the urban audience focus on effective promotional activities in addition to the content. Further, investment in exhibition infrastructure, leading to the co-existence of multiplexes and single screens, along with the right price can offer consumers a compelling theatrical experience. Exploring newer content delivery platforms, focusing on digital rights management, effectively promoting films and continuing to focus on local content development are measures that could propel this industry to a luminous future ahead1. Even, opening of new „Prayag Film City‟ or a govt. sponsored new film studio at Uttarpara, is a new face of this industry. From an average of 40-50 films in 2006, now it's producing more than 100 films a year2. The market for Bengali films can be expanded to a 340-million-strong Bengali audience in Bangladesh, West Bengal, Tripura and

1 FICCI Frames-a symphony of art-media & entertainment in east india-bengal-2011 2 http://in.news.yahoo.com/directors-ideas-power-bengali-cinemas-resurgence-073245236.html; http://ibef.org/entertainment&media_industry 12

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Assam. The industry could truly flourish if films from this state have a proper distribution network3. So, by looking at this market, it seems very clear that the topic for research is very much neo and relevant for analysis. Lastly, talking about the biggest blockbuster of Bengali movies, „Chander Pahar‟, is important as it crossed the barrier of Rs. 20 crores‟ gross income as the first Bengali movie ever, and ran over 100 days since last week of December, 2014.

Objective

The objectives of the interest area may be described as given below:  To analyse the changing behaviour during last decade  To find out the turnaround factors for further development of production  To know how the marketing strategies in recent years have been utilized  To identify the impact of television and other media among viewers  To judge the impact of various promotional factors in film business In essence, the objectives are all related, yet differ from one another to form the findings in an all square manner.

Cinema of India

The necessary steps for almost any film can be boiled down to conception, planning, execution, revision, and distribution. In a typical production cycle of a film, these main stages are defined as: Step outline · Film treatment · Script · Screenplay · Film finance · Film

Development budgeting · Green-light Breaking down the script · Script breakdown · Storyboard · Production Pre-production board · Production strip · Day Out of Days · Production schedule · One liner schedule · Shooting schedule Cinematography · Principal photography · Videography · Shooting

Production script · Film inventory report · Daily call sheet · Production report · Daily production report · Daily progress report · Daily editor log · Sound report · Cost report

Post-production Film editing · Re-recording · Sync sound · Soundtrack · Music · Special effect (sound · visual) · Negative cost

Distribution Distribution · Film release (wide · limited · delayed) · Road show

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_West_Bengal 13

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Historically, all mass marketed feature films were made to be shown in movie theaters. The development of television has allowed films to be broadcast to larger audiences, usually after the film is no longer being shown in theaters. The movie theater pays an average of about 50- 55% of its ticket sales to the movie studio, as film rental fees. The actual percentage starts with a number higher than that, and decreases as the duration of a film's showing continues, as an incentive to theaters to keep movies in the theater longer. However, today's barrage of highly marketed movies ensures that most movies are shown in first-run theaters for less than 8 weeks. There are a few movies every year that defy this rule, often limited-release movies that start in only a few theaters and actually grow their theater count through good word-of- mouth and reviews. At the end of 2010, it was reported that, in terms of annual film output, India ranks first, followed by Hollywood and China. Enhanced technology paved the way for upgrading from established cinematic norms of delivering product, altering the manner in which content reached the target audience, as per regional tastes. Indian cinema found markets in over 90 countries where films from India are screened. The provision of 100% foreign direct investment has made the Indian film market attractive for foreign enterprises such as 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros. etc. Indian enterprises such as Zee, UTV, Viacom 18, Adlabs, Sun Pictures etc. participated in producing and distributing films, sometimes by collaborating with foreign firms also. Tax incentives to multiplexes have aided the multiplex boom in India. By 2003 as many as 30 film production companies had been listed in the National Stock Exchange of India, making the commercial presence of the medium felt.

The South Indian film industry defines the four film cultures of South India as a single entity. They are the Kannada, the Malayalam, the Tamil and the Telugu industries. Although developed independently for a long period of time, gross exchange of film performers and technicians as well as globalisation helped to shape this new identity, currently holding 75% of all film revenues in India. The Indian Diaspora consists of millions of Indians overseas for which films are made available both through mediums such as DVDs and by screening of films in their country of residence wherever commercially feasible. These earnings, accounting for some 12% of the revenue generated by a mainstream film, contribute substantially to the overall revenue of Indian cinema. Music in Indian cinema is another substantial revenue generator, with the music rights alone accounting for 4–5% of the net revenues generated by a film in India. 14

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The figures below indicate the rise/fall in production of films in major Indian languages in 2011 as compared to the year 2010(source: CBFC)- Language Films certified in 2010 Films certified in 2011 Bengali 110 122 Telugu 181 192 Tamil 202 185 Malayalam 105 95 Kannada 143 138 Marathi 116 107 Hindi 215 206

TOTAL INDIAN FEATURE FILMS RELEASED (CELLULOID): 1274(2010) 1255(2011) The maximum number of certificates for Feature Films “Celluloid” were issued from the Mumbai Region followed by Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata as indicated below(as per the CBFC 2011 report) : MUMBAI 689 (462 Indian and 227 Foreign), CHENNAI 218 (202 Indian and 16 Foreign), HYDERABAD 164 (All Indian), BANGALORE 159 (All Indian), KOLKATA 118 (All Indian). Other language films with high number of releases are Bhojpuri, Gujrati, Oriya & Punjabi. Now, there is a certain thematic classification, or „Genre‟, of Indian feature films, derived by CBFC which are given below- Social, Crime, Comedy, Drama, Action, Horror, Thriller, Devotional, Children‟s film, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Murder Mystery, Sci-fi, Biography, Mythological, Political, Spoof/Satire, Vengeance, Patriotic, Legendary, Suspense Thriller, Mystery. Out of these, most films are being certified as Social, in any language.

Market size of six major local language film markets: Language Households(million TV Cable & Satellite Advertisement in home state) households households(million) market (million) size(INR million) Tamil 17.7 16.4 15.9 13500

Telugu 20.9 15.1 14.8 9000

Bengali 20.3 9.5 8.6 7000

Kannada 13.5 10 9.9 6200

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Malayalam 8.1 7.6 7.1 6600

Marathi 24.9 16.8 14.9 4100

Source: IRS Q3 2012; Industry discussions conducted by KPMG in India

Distribution – Digital dominance is here: Over the past few years the industry has steadily shifted from releasing films with physical prints to digital distribution. The share of the digital format has increased from roughly 50 percent in 2010 to around 80-90 percent in 2012. Digital distribution has enabled films to broaden their reach and do it far quicker than ever before. Distributors are now able to capture revenues in a shorter time frame by having same-day release across theatres and pre- selling cable & satellite rights. Most films now garner about 60-80 percent of their revenue in the first week of release.

Box office success in the first week is considered critical and marketing plays an important role in determining turnout. Some reports indicate that pre-release marketing budget is found to be highly correlated with the opening weekend success of a movie. With this trend increasingly becoming prominent, advertising spends are on the rise. Print and advertising (P&A) budgets witnessed a 20 percent Y-o-Y increase in 2012 with marketing spends dominating. In 2012, on an average 60 percent of P&A budgets were spent on promotion and advertising of the film. Film marketing activities have progressed beyond posters and promos with the aggressive use of new marketing tools on social media, portals, search engines and even activation. Use of social media has become an important component of pre-release marketing strategy for any movie. Some players have gone a step ahead and developed mobile apps for promoting their movie.

In 2012, the average film marketing costs ranged anywhere between INR 80-120 million. For high budget films, this went up to INR 150 million and for low budget films, in some cases, it exceeded their production cost. As per industry estimates, for a low budget film, a minimum budget of INR 35 to 50 million is required to ensure a decent commercial release for the film. However, the economics are different in South India where marketing budgets are still low at INR 15 – 20 million per film. It is anticipated that as media clutter grows, marketing budgets for films will continue to climb in order for products to get noticed.

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Domestic theatrical revenues continues to be the main source of revenue for the film industry, with 76 percent of its revenue coming from this channel and this trend is expected to continue in the foreseeable future. However, the landscape is undergoing drastic changes. With screen density of only 8 per million as compared to Indonesia (141), US (117), China (31) and Brazil (10), India continues to be heavily under screened. With lower real estate prices in smaller towns and the leeway to launch a no frills cinema, the exhibitors are able to considerably bring down the cost per screen. Keeping in mind demographics of these cities, the prices of tickets are lower than those charged by multiplexes in the metros. For instance, while a regular PVR ticket price ranges from INR 100-275 in Delhi/ NCR, it ranges from INR 40-90 in Ujjain and INR 50-150 in Bilaspur. With digitization likely to provide greater clarity in terms of TRPs, Video-On-Demand (VOD) services, and greater number of movie channels, the demand for all genres of films on cable and satellite platforms is expected to increase. The theatre-to-television window is reducing with movies being broadcast on television within 60 to 90 days of their theatrical release.

Film Industry Performance:

Revenue 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 (INR (projected) million) Domestic 80.2 68.5 62 68.8 85.1 92.4 Theatrical Overseas 9.8 6.8 6.6 6.9 7.6 8.3 Theatrical Home 3.8 4.3 2.3 2 1.7 1.4 Video Cable & 7.1 6.3 8.3 10.5 12.6 14.1 Satellite Rights Ancillary 3.5 3.5 4.1 4.7 5.4 6.2 Revenue Total 104.4 89.3 83.3 92.9 112.4 122.4 Source: KPMG in India analysis, 2013

According to CBFC, Indian Short Celluloid films range accordingly- ADVERTISEMENT – 1153; TRAILER – 444; Total - 1771. Also, India has one of the largest broadcasting industries in the world with approximately 800 satellite television channels, 245 FM channels and more than 100 operational community radio networks.

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Bengali cinema

In 1993, the Bengali industry's net output was 57 films. But in 2010-11 season, it crossed an annual production of 100+ films, with a maximum budget limit of around 5-6 crore in a film. New genres are evolving, apart from typical romance films, which are getting some big hits, even running 100 days.

The history of cinema in Bengal dates back to the 1890s, when the first "bioscopes" were shown in theatres in Kolkata. However, the first Bengali Feature film, Billwamangal, was produced in 1919, under the banner of Madan Theatre. Bilat Ferat was the IBFC's first production in 1921. The Madan Theatres production of Jamai Shashthi was the first Bengali talkie. The 'Parallel Cinema' movement began in the Bengali film industry in the 1950s. A long history has been traversed since then, with stalwarts such as Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Ritwik Ghatak and others having earned international acclaim and securing their place in the history of film.

Budget & Marketing :

The Primary Production Houses, in 2010 era, are Sri Venkatesh Films & Dhanuka Films among other producers in Bengali films. In 2012, Bikram Singha, starring Prosenjit, a remake of a south Indian film, was produced over a budget of Rs. 6 crore, setting a new benchmark for the Bengali film industry. 2013 saw the biggest production of a Bengali film, when „Chander Pahar‟ happened at a marvel cost of Rs. 15 crore, including all expenses, and setting new benchmarks. Even a song now costs up to Rs. one crore for its making with video production. But these are few in numbers. Most movies don‟t cross the limit of one crore mark for production and marketing. 70 Bengali movies were released every year and were produced with a budget of Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 1.5 crore per movie in 2008. Other regional movies like the ones in Tamil and Telugu would have a budget of Rs 40 crore as on 2008. There are at least three south Indian films which grossed more than 100 crore INR, being domestic film only, which is a landmark itself. Many of the most critically acclaimed Bengali films were low-budget films, including Satyajit Ray's famous The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959). The first film in the trilogy, Pather Panchali (1955), was produced on a shoestring budget of Rs. 1.5 lakh ($32000) using an amateur cast and crew. All his other films that followed also

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had low budgets, with his most expensive films being The Adventures Of Goopy And Bagha (1968) at Rs. 6 lakh ($80,000) and The Chess Players (1977) at Rs. 20 lakh ($230,000).

The Bengali film industry, which had been a beacon for the country's film industry until the 1980s, is in a turnaround mode. At a time when Bollywood continues its roller-coaster ride, there are cheers in the Bengali film industry with several commercial successes. The dark period of the 1990s when Bengali tinsel town was on a steep decline seems like a nightmare that's best forgotten. And, with the money pouring in, producers from other States are now knocking on the doors of Bengali directors. Industry sources say that the best proof of the comeback is seen in the increasing number of cinema houses showing Bengali films. In 2012, only 350+ theatres are showing Bengali films. Earlier, a film by award-winning director Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Mondo Meyer Upakhyan (The Tale of a Fallen Girl) produced by Arjoe Entertainments netted nearly Rs 7 crore through sale of overseas rights against a cost of Rs 60 lakh. Haranath Chakraborty‟s film Sathee (Companion) created a record by recouping over five times its production cost. Loose and unorganised production activities, dominated and dictated by providers of capital led to proliferation of sub-standard films, which were most often commercial failures. The recent successes have come through some concerted effort by Parallel Cinema which has tapped the domestic market, even while scouting the overseas ones, hitting the festival circuit somewhere in between. As such, celluloid creations of award-winning directors like Kaushik Ganguly, Gautam Ghosh, Rituparno Ghosh and Aparna Sen started bringing money for their producers. However, at around the same time, movies in the commercial circuit (directors like to call them mainstream cinema) also started doing well, supported strongly by the response from the semi-urban areas. The big Bollywood banners such as Reliance Entertainment and UTV are now showing interest in funding Bengali films, sometimes joining hands with local players like Grassroot Entertainment of Actor Jeet, creating a new line of production & distribution of films. Hollywood houses like Columbia Tristar have made their debut in distributing Bengali movies. According to industry experts, several issues need to be addressed to build on this resurgence and consolidate it. These include inadequate infrastructure, which often compels moviemakers to go outside the State for facilities pushing up costs, poor marketing and distribution and increasing competition from Bangladeshi films.

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New technology introduction like cube digital, digital filming etc. may have earned a big change in bengali films‟ movement, but piracy has done a marvelous loss so far. Both in digital pirated copy or in pirated dvd/cd, the films have been widespread and the theaters started losing business from late 1990s. Apart from television showing, this made people from going to theaters for watching the films. But still, people are now again moving to theaters due to new stories etc. and the industry has started reviving since 2005. Films remain the study area of mass communication. But the marketing of films has become a significant role player now-a-days. Hence, to see changes in this industry on current basis, various resources has been analysed over years. But going through the recent magazines like Anadalok, Cinema Ebong(in Bengali language) or news supplementaries like Patrika of Anandabazar Patrika, Popkorn of Sanbad Pratidin, t2 of The Telegraph, Calcutta Times of Times of India etc. give a clear outline that where the Bengali film industry is approaching. A regular analysis of the different genre films by them is being seen. Apart from that, the interview with various actors, directors, musicians, producers, script writers etc. are now been published. Developments of new films are often discussed in these print media. But out of 169 screens of Qube digital platform in West Bengal, only 30 are in North Bengal. UFO Moviez claims to have installed their technology in 228 Bengali screens across West Bengal. This shows the growth of digitisation in large scale, but only concentrating the focus area in South Bengal only. Where Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh or even Karnataka are at a high rate of digitisation of theatres with numerous screens, Bengal is far behind (see appendix).

Let‟s take one example of a film, named “Chirodini Tumi Je Amar 2”, released on 11th April‟2014, by so far the biggest Production house of Bengali film industry-Sri Venkatesh Films. They produced & released the film across south Bengal area in 68 single screens and 17 multiplex screens, whereas in north Bengal, they released the film only in 13 single screens and 02 multiplex screens, along with two releases in Agartala, Tripura, taking the total count of screen releases to 102, which is a modest number for this film as the film has no star graded actors at all.

Now, the same Production house released a Hindi film “Aatma” almost one year ago, on 22nd March‟2013, as distributors in West Bengal. They released the film across south Bengal area in 128 single screens and 18 multiplex screens; whereas in north Bengal, they released the

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film only in 16 single screens and 04 multiplex screens, taking the total count of screen releases to 166.

In recent years, the film which was released with most screens in West Bengal was “Dui Prithibi”, again produced & distributed by Sri Venkatesh Films, with 292 screen releases across West Bengal, out of roughly 350 total screens existing now(EIMPA or Eastern India Motion Pictures Association records). 2013 also saw high first weekend earning for the hardcore commercial Bengali films like „Boss‟, „Khoka 420‟ etc., grossing Rs. one crore within 3 to 5 days, making the grand total to 5-6 crores for the film till it runs. Tenure has fallen for the films like it used to happen before the year 2000 when films used to run 50-100 days, but instead of that, now the model of earning the expenses is the same that of Bollywood, i.e., quick return in first/second weekend of the release. But, it is not possible to gain the usefulness of the model throughout the market as most of the screens in Bengal are still single screen with very low ticket price, and even in multiplexes, for the Bengali films, the ticket price is comparatively low than that of Hindi or English movies.

There is a certain problem of piracy also. Movies are leaked quickly like what happens for Hindi movies. Another problem is that of not reaching the mass market of less populated districts in both north & south Bengal. People are now watching movies in TV, after the world premiere happens. Content is another problem as many films are basically remakes of other south Indian films. Hence, people are not getting interest to go for movie-watching as it is only glossy, but not contemporary or practical, especially in case of commercial films.

Film Promotion Film promotion is the practise of promotion specifically in the film industry. As with all business it is an important part of any release because of the inherent high financial risk; film studios will invest in expensive marketing campaigns to maximize revenue early in the release cycle. Marketing budgets tend to equal anywhere between half or three times the production budget. Publicity is generally handled by the distributor and exhibitors.

Techniques:

In theaters  Trailers are a mainstay of film promotion, because they are delivered directly to movie-goers. They screen in theatres before movie showings. Generally they tell the 21

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story of the movie in a highly condensed fashion compressing maximum appeal into two and half minutes.  Film posters- a common tool to promote.  Slideshows - stills, trivia, and trivia games from the film, shown between movie showtimes.  Standees (freestanding paperboard life-size images of figures from the film)- a theatrical standee is a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event. They are typically made of cardboard, and may range from large self-standing posters to three-dimensional devices with moving parts and lights. Standees are typically displayed in theatre lobbies or music stores in advance of film or music releases.  Cardboard 3D displays, sometimes producing sound.

Television and radio  Hollywood movie distributors spend about $4 billion a year(in 2012) to buy paid advertising (30-second TV commercials, newspaper ads, etc.) and over half that total is placed on broadcast and cable TV, which are the main vehicles for advertising movies to audiences. TV is effective because it is an audio-visual medium – like film – and can deliver a vast audience quickly, which is crucial because films typically don‟t linger in theatres more than 4–6 weeks.  Product placement: paid active or passive insertion (as on-set posters, and action figures) of film brand in drama or sitcom shows, or as passing mentions in dialogue.

 Extended placement: full episodes of television talkshows, entertainment news programs, or network news programs, devoted to compensated exposure of the film, stars, clips, director, etc. o In addition, interviews with actors and directors which are filmed en masse at a hotel with local and national entertainment reporters which are featured on local news shows, programs on cable networks.  Production and paid broadcast of behind-the-scenes documentary-style shows.  Advance trailers, longer previews, or behind-the-scenes footage on rental videos and DVDs.

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Internet

 Creation of standalone studio-sponsored per-film websites.  Viral marketing: free distribution of trailers on movie-oriented websites and video user-generated-content websites, and rapid dissemination of links to this content by email and blogs. Includes alleged leakage of supposed "rushes" and "early trailers" of film scenes. In recent times, mostly used to attract the youth in any language films.

Print  Paid advertisement in newspapers, magazines, and inserts in books.  Cross-promotion of original book or novelization, including special printings, or new cover jackets ("Now a major motion picture.")  Comic special editions or special episodes.

Merchandising  Paid co-branding, or co-advertising of a product with the film.  Promotional giveaways: branded drink cups, toys, or food combinations, at fast food chains.  A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads". A teaser trailer is a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming film, television program, video game or similar, usually released long in advance of the product, so as to "tease" the audience.

Promotional tour

 Film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake. Interviews are conducted in person or remotely. During film production, these can take place on set. After film release, key personnel make appearances in major market cities, or participate remotely via "satellite" or telephone.

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Music release

 Releasing the film music, or music videos, before the actual release of the film can also be considered a form of advertising. A popular tune is believed to help pull audiences into the theaters. Using personal channel of the producer in this regard is a much used phenomena in local language films.

Audience research There are seven distinct types of research conducted by film distributors in connection with domestic theatrical releases, according to "Marketing to Moviegoers: Second Edition." Such audience research can cost up to $1 million per film, especially when scores of TV advertisements are tested and re-tested. The bulk of research is done by major studios for the roughly 170 major releases they mount each year that are supported by tens of millions of advertising buys for each film. Independent film distributors, which typically spend less than $10 million in media buys per film, don‟t have the budget or breadth of advertising materials to analyze, so they spend little or nothing on pre-release audience research. When audience research is conducted for domestic theatrical release, it involves these areas:  Positioning studies versus other films that will premiere at the same time.  Test screenings of finished or nearly finished films; this is the most well known.  Testing of audience response to advertising materials.  Tracking surveys of audience awareness of a film starting six weeks before premiere.  Exit surveys questioning film goers about their demographic makeup and effectiveness of marketing.  Title testing in an early stage.  Concept testing that would occur in development phase of a film before it is produced.

With Social Media grabbing about 25 percent of the internet surfing time in India, this medium is rather hard to ignore. India has more than 70 million social network surfers(in 2013) – a potentially large platform for digital marketing. These consumers are already being targeting by the film industry. Disney has demonstrated how to leverage social media on a large scale. It engages with millions of consumers through more than 1000 social media accounts. It has pages and accounts across Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Youtube for

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every movie it makes, for all its theme parks and for Disney merchandise. The company has more than 3.5 million followers online - The goal is to recreate the Disney magic online.

Now comes a Word of Mouth framework, derived by Yong Liu, as given below-

Source: Yong Liu, Journal of Marketing, July 2006, pp74-89.

The above diagram is showing the importance of Word of Mouth for the movie success. In recent times, Bengali film „Bhuter Bhobissot‟ got huge success with this, whereas, very recent Hindi film „Queen‟ as also gained commercial success due to WOM.

The industry no longer has to rely solely on its instincts when it can leverage statistical tools and frameworks to define a target audience for a genre and assess the market potential of a concept. Analysis of basic parameters such as demographics, income distribution and consumer behaviour parameters such as genre preference, spending and media consumption

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pattern -by age, gender, geography, language, income bracket etc can unravel the mystery behind erratic audience behaviour.

Once the target audience has been decided, content can be refined through focused group testing to ensure that the content turns out to be relevant and appealing. This can be done by using various testing tools such as Concept Testing, Content Development and Audience Pre- testing.

• Concept testing and development enables a production house develop the theme of movie

• Audience pre-testing helps production houses make necessary changes in the storyline to make it more appealing while the reactions also help distributors focus their marketing strategies. There are mixed opinions on pre-testing, some producers have only limited or no faith in this process, believing that the treatment of a story can make or break a movie, there are others who strongly support the practice

• Companies can also use Pre-release Awareness Testing to gauge the effectiveness of their marketing efforts and make necessary changes to the game plan to ensure maximum impact

The final stage of any movie lifecycle is to convince prospective audiences to buy movie tickets. The art of marketing a movie is fast evolving and becoming innovative and scientific in its approach. Shorter box office windows, low attention span, high cost of watching movies in theatre and availability of alternate entertainment options such as web, mobile, TV etc have added to movie marketers‟ onus of creating extensive buzz and interest to attract the audience to theatres. Movie marketers can employ tools to define which platforms should be used to engage prospective audience and continuously assess whether the efforts are creating positive results.

Now, let's have a look at the innovative ways through which producers have publicized 'Chennai Express': Game Development; Lungi Dance as promotional video along with Rajnikanth factor; Promotion on TV; Posters in different languages; Tie-up with products; Fashion shows; Social media platform; Video game.

The highest grossing film in India so far, „Dhoom 3‟, has been involved with low profile marketing strategies, unlike other Aamir Khan movies of recent years. Yet the film became biggest hit of all time in Indian cinema with total gross of Rupees 560 crores, after being released on 25th December 2013. At first, a title logo & score of the film was released, 26

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followed by motion poster & first teaser. Then arrived a game, and finally arrived the theatrical trailer. Then Aamir Khan appeared in „kaun banega crorepati‟ and the publicity campaign included tie-ins with 17 brands.

Looking at Hollywood‟s biggest success story with a worldwide box-office gross of about $2.8 billion, Avatar is often proclaimed to be the "highest-grossing" film ever, but such claims usually refer to theatrical revenues only and do not take account of home video and television income, which can form a significant portion of a film's earnings. Once revenue from home entertainment is factored in it is not immediately clear which film is the most successful. Titanic earned $1.2 billion from video and DVD sales and rentals, in addition to the $2.2 billion it grossed in theatres. While complete sales data is not available for Avatar, it earned $345 million from the sale of sixteen million DVD and Blu-ray units in North America, and ultimately sold a total of thirty million DVD and Blu-ray units worldwide so far. After home video income is accounted for, both films have earned over $3 billion. Television broadcast rights will also substantially add to a film's earnings, with a film often earning as much as 20–25% of its theatrical box-office for a couple of television runs on top of pay-per-view revenues; Titanic earned a further $55 million from the NBC and HBO broadcast rights, equating to about 9% of its North American gross.

Conclusion

Hence, it can be derived that major promotional activities and other tools of marketing need to be addressed properly by the local producers and distributors in Bengali film, as there is no certain model or philosophy of marketing present. As per the KPMG-FICCI report of 2013, West Bengal tops among all states for the percentage of literate population not reading any newspaper-60%, where Kerala has that number at the lowest at 17% with Tamil Nadu at 34% & Maharashtra at 36%. With this, how can a poster be successful to promote a film, after being printed in newspaper in West Bengal? Also, social media has not yet a massive reach to all the age groups and cluster of demography/geography. Also, the above report indicated that the number of movie goers has not increased in decades in any state, only the price hike has made the films gross the higher amount. This has to be changed with the marketing tools, by releasing the films across various regions, where ever the Bengali speaking people reside,

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taking some necessary steps by producers. Protection from piracy must be taken care of by both the producers and govt. All these may bring the success of Bengali films in long run.

Appendix

West Bengal Census 2011 High Dense districts Population Low Dense districts Population North 24 Parganas 1 Cr. North Dinajpur 30lakhs South 24 Parganas 81.53 lakhs South Dinajpur 16.7lakhs Kolkata 44.86lakhs Kochbihar 28.22lakhs Nadia 51.68lakhs Jalpaiguri 38.69lakhs Burdwan 77.23lakhs Darjiling 18.42lakhs Murshidabad 71lakhs Purulia 29.27lakhs East Midnapur 59.43lakhs Bankura 35.96lakhs West Midnapur 50.94lakhs Birbhum 35lakhs Howrah 48.41lakhs Malda 39.97lakhs Hooghly 55.2lakhs -- -- Total of 10 districts 6.41 Cr. Total of 9 districts 2.72 Cr. Total Population: 9.13 Crores Source: pp629, Poschim Bongo Porikroma, Manorama Yearbook 2014 Bengali version.

Qube digital formatted number of theatres: State Total Number of theatres Tamil Nadu & Puducherry 637 Andhra Pradesh & Telengana 726 Bihar 54 Gujarat 80 Karnataka 272 Kerala 146 Maharashtra 42 Rajasthan 47 Uttar Pradesh 88 West Bengal 169 Total in India 2405 Source: http://www.qcn.in/theatres

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Total 19 districts exist in West Bengal in 2014 which are listed below: South Bengal districts North Bengal districts North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Kolkata, Nadia, Burdwan, Murshidabad, Kochbihar, Jalpaiguri, Darjiling, East Midnapur, West Midnapur, Malda Howrah, Hooghly, Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia Total of 13 districts Total of 6 districts

References 1. A.Lent, J. (1990). The Asian Film Industry. Christopher Helm Ltd. 2. Bal, X. &. (2011). Emoti-coms--A marketing guide to communicating through emotions. Harriman House. 3. Bose, D. (2005). Brand Bollywood: a new global entertainment order. New Delhi: Sage Publications. 4. Dudrah, J. D. (2007). The essential Bollywood. 5. Jansson-Boyd, C. V. (2010). Consumer Psychology. McGraw Hill Education. 6. Liu, Y. (2006 July). Word of Mouth for Movies: Its Dynamics and Impact on Box Office Revenue. Journal of Marketing , 74-89. 7. Poschim Bongo Porikroma. (2014). Manorama Yearbook 2014 Bengali version, 629. 8. Panda, B. (2008). Cinema-New audiences New horizons. Bhubaneswar: Rudrakshya. 9. KPMG-FICCI. (2013). The power of a billion: Realising the Indian dream. 10. FICCI-KPMG. (2011). Indian Media and Entertainment Report. 11. CBFC. (2011). Annual Report. 12. JSTOR Film Quarterly,62(1) (Fall 2008),40-45 Websites: 1. http://in.news.yahoo.com/directors-ideas-power-bengali-cinemas-resurgence- 073245236.html- 24/04/12 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_West_Bengal- 30/08/12

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3. http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/cii-task-force-to-help-bengali-film- industry/419102- 12/10/12 4. http://digital-conversations.blogspot.in/2013/08/chennai-expresss-marketing- express.html - 05/04/14 5. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhoom 3 - 05/04/14 6. http://www.ibef.org/media & entertainment industry - 05/04/14 7. http://www.qcn.in/theatres/West-Bengal - 05/04/14 8. http://www.ufomoviez.com/UFO_Pre_Lang.aspx - 05/04/14

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FACTORS INFLUENCE THE CONSUMERS TO UTILISE THE LEISURE SERVICES

Dr P.N. Raghunathan, Asst. Professor, Department of Business Administration, Government Arts College, (Autonomous), Coimbatore, India ======ABSTRACT

This study highlights in general about the study area and its geography-wise population. And this study reveals the importance of the study and statement of the problem. Main objectives of the study are to study the general profile of leisure services in Coimbatore District and to find the relationship between the demographic factors and utilization of leisure services in the study area. After the analysis it is found that sex, educational qualification, family income, level of awareness are positively correlated and age, marital status, occupation, family size, monthly average spending amount are negatively correlated with the level of utilization.

Keywords: Consumer, Leisure Services, Multiple Regression Analysis

======

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Introduction

Marketing is undisputedly the most important function of all business organizations worldwide. Today, marketing comprises equal importance of both product as well as services. This becomes more success with the help of information technology, which facilitates development of communication as an integrating process of civilized societies. As such, marketing gains ascendancy over other functions in improving maturity in the thinking and living habits of people. The expanding horizons of marketing, the intensifying competition in satisfying consumers with myriad products and services and the raising levels of standard of living, altogether constitute a new era of marketing. In this era, marketers have to adopt new philosophies, new organization practices and new strategic approaches to achieve their goals, in general, and in particular, to services marketing, especially, in leisure services, since it is a new and upcoming service type in our country.

Marketing of leisure services involve unique practices when compared to marketing of any other product. Leisure services are services altogether and hence intangible in nature. Hence, there is no immediate chance of realizing the services as good or bad. It is the sales force to struggle much to convince the buyers in all respects before materialising a contract.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

Leisure services providers need to adopt marketing orientated approach ensuring long-term survival and success. In the increasingly fierce competition for consumers‟ discretionary income, leisure offer must meet higher standards of quality and desirability. Understanding the needs of the leisure services of the consumer, and identifying the best means of satisfying those needs is the first step. Marketers need to understand the consumers in order to design and implement effective marketing programmes to satisfy consumer wants and needs.

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Fitwgerald (1995) has rightly pinpointed that knowledge of an adolescent‟s leisure time activities and the satisfaction derived are important for understanding a target community‟s social world and the needs of the individuals of that community. Leisure participation enhances health, it is important that all people get enough opportunities to experience leisure. Once the people are aware of the psychological and sociological aspects of leisure, then it is easy to understand that the study of leisure attitudes is an imperative task. To help people gain a better leisure attitude, it is important that they become interested in leisure activities as this can help them become more satisfied with their life. If the significant relationship between satisfaction in life and leisure activities is substantiated, the value of leisure activities will be realized and its need might be considered in greater scale by the public. Researches have shown that there is a strong bond between leisure behaviour and life satisfaction.

Statement Of The Problem

Marketing of different types of services has evolved during the last few decades especially with a changing focus on customization of services to tailor made marketing services to individual customers. But along with the continuous growth and modernization, there are several challenges confronting the leisure service sector.

In the present era of globalisation, leisure has emerged as a critical issue in people‟s lives. Improved standard of living, better health, increased level of education, a declining percentage of time devoted to work, and greater personal freedom has provided for many and a vastly increased potential for leisure. The use of free time in voluntary and pleasurable ways is an expected, and often realized, part of life in post-industrial societies leisure and its use has become increasingly important to individuals‟ sense of self and well being; it has become a critical part of the economy as well. Hence, the study of marketing of leisure has also emerged in order to assess the scope and prospects of the same.

Objectives Of The Study  To study the general profile of leisure services in Coimbatore District.  To find the relationship between the demographic factors and utilization of leisure services in the study area.

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Methodology

The validity of a research depends on the systematic method of collecting the data and analyzing the same methodically. In the present study, extensive uses of both primary and secondary data were collected systematically. For collecting primary data, field survey technique was used in the study area i.e., Coimbatore. First-hand information pertaining to behaviour, satisfaction, benefits accrued and problems in utilizing leisure services in the study area were collected from thousand sample respondents. And data pertaining to the leisure service providers namely, their problems of running their business in general, problems in marketing their services, the nature and scope of their leisure services, their satisfaction level regarding the profit in their business; future plans etc.,

The geographical distribution of the sample respondents is exhibited in the following table.

TABLE NO. 1

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SAMPLE RESPONDENTS IN THE STUDY AREA S. No. NAME OF THE AREA (BLOCKS) TOTAL REGION

1 AVINASHI 100 I

2 COIMBATORE (NORTH) 100 II

3 COIMBATORE (SOUTH) 100 III

4 METTUPALAYAM 100 IV

5 PALLADAM 100 V

6 POLLACHI 100 VI

7 TIRUPPUR 100 VII

8 UDUMALAIPET 100 VIII

9 VALPARAI 100 IX

10 TOWNHALL 100 X

TOTAL 1000

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DATA COLLECTION

Primary Data

In order to fulfil the objectives set out, a sample study was undertaken using well- framed questionnaire and got it duly filled in by the consumers. Respondents of varying nature were selected based on the important aspects of their Age, Education, Occupation, Income, area and so forth. The structured questionnaires and schedules were pre-tested and suitable modifications were carried out later.

Secondary Data

The primary data were supplemented by enough secondary source data. The secondary data pertaining to the study were gathered from books, Internet and the well- equipped libraries at Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore. They were utilized to get the necessary and latest information required for the study.

Further, the secondary data were also collected from leading journals such as “Journal of Leisure Research”, Internet and the Encyclopaedia - to mention a few. A number of standard textbooks were studied to obtain the pertinent literature on leisure services. Discussions and Informal Interviews

In order to know the general working pattern of the services, several rounds of discussion were held with knowledgeable persons in the field. For this purpose, a good rapport had been established with the leading entrepreneurs, businessman, professionals and the public concerned of the leisure services sector.

Tools of Data Collection

By virtue of a mass of data obtained from the research survey, as well as data from secondary sources collected and presented in the present report, descriptive and analytical research was considered the most appropriate for this study. The research problem, questionnaire and interview schedule were all framed accordingly. The suggestions offered in 35

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the final chapter of the present research report emerged from the inferences drawn from the sample respondents‟ information who utilized the leisure services. The researcher used “closed” and “open-ended” questions in the questionnaire to collect the primary data.

Constructions of Interview Schedules & Questionnaire:

The key aspects of the present research to be studied were identified from the preliminary interviews (Pilot study) with some selected respondents. The questionnaire and schedules drafted were circulated among some research experts and research scholars for a critical view with respect to the wording, format, sequence and the like of the questionnaire. It was re-drafted in the light of their comments.

Pre – Test

The questionnaire meant for the respondents was pre-tested with twenty-five respondents. Similarly, the interview schedule designed for the service providers was pre- tested with twenty service providers. After pre-testing, necessary modifications were made in the questionnaire and the interview schedules to fit it in the track of the present study.

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

The core of the study being „Marketing problems and prospects of Leisure services‟, the study centres around two dependent variables viz., the marketing problems of the service providers and the level of satisfaction perceived by the customers and the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. The tools of analysis and the variables studied are as follows.

MULTIPLE REGRESSION ANALYSIS

Regression is a statistical relationship between two or more variables. When there are two or more independent variables, the analysis that describes such relationship among the variables is called the multiple regression. This analysis is also adopted when one dependent variable is performing the function of two or more independent variables. In multiple 36

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regressions, a linear composite of explanatory variables is formed in such a way that it has maximum correlation with an active criterion variable. The main objective for using this technique is to predict the variability of the dependent variable based on its co-variants with all the other independent variables. It is useful in predicting the level of the dependent phenomenon, if the levels of independent variables were given. The linear multiple regression problem is to estimate the coefficients β1, β2, ……… βj and β0 such that the expression,

Y = β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + ……………+ βjXk provided a good estimate of an individual Y score based on the X scores.

Where,

Y = Customers‟ level of satisfaction on Leisure services.

X1 = Age

X2 = Sex

X3 = Marital status

X4 = Education Status

X5 = Occupation

X6 = Income

X7 = Family Size

X8 = Behaviour

X9 = Period

X10 = Awareness

And β0 + β1X1 + β2X2 + ……………+ βj are the parameters to be estimated.

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RESULTS OF THE ANALYSIS:

To what extent the level of utilization of the customers of leisure services is affected by various predictor variables (independent variables) is explained by Multiple Regression analysis. Totally nine independent variables were identified for regression analysis. Multiple regressions are mainly based on equation where in the predictor variables coefficients are found out. The general multiple Linear Regression equation is of the form.

Y = a0 + a1x1 + a2x2 + ……………+ an xn

Where Y is the dependent variable a0 is constant. a1, a2 ……. an are the regression coefficients for the independent variables x1, x2 ……. xn respectively.

The analysis starts with estimating coefficients and the constant. This level is maintained so that all the variables included in the equation are not again considered for removal.

Once the variable entered and remains in the equation, the next variable with highest positive / negative partial correlation is selected and considered for entry and if satisfied then added to the equation. Now the variables so for entered into the equation is checked for removal. This process continues until all the variables satisfying entry and removal are included in the equation.

VARIABLES SELECTED

1. Age 2. Sex 3. Marital status 4. Educational Qualification, 5. Occupation, 6. Family Income, 7. Size of the Family, 8. Awareness, 38

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9. Monthly average spending amount The following table gives the results of stepwise regression analysis, giving details of multiple R, R2 step inclusion of variables in the regression equation. However for the problem under study all the variables identified have been included in the equation.

REGRESSION ANALYSIS OF RESPONDENTS

Unstandardized Standardized Sl. coefficients coefficients Variables t Sig. No. Std. B Beta Error

(Constant) 0.199 0.073 2.71

1 Age -9.76E-02 0.037 -0.101 -2.626 1%

2 Sex 0.903 0.014 0.898 63.443 1%

3 Marital Status -3.381E-02 0.017 -0.034 -1.972 5% 4 Educational 3.037E-02 0.014 0.031 2.142 5% Qualification 5 Occupation -8.37E-02 0.025 -0.112 -3.389 1%

6 Family Income 5.636E-03 0.007 0.012 0.84 NS

7 Family size -2.121E-02 0.009 -0.032 -2.307 5%

8 Level of Awareness 0.113 0.034 0.105 3.32 1% 9 Monthly Average -6.62E-03 0.009 -0.010 -0.720 NS spending Amount NS – Not Significant

R-Value R2 -Value Degree of Degree of F Value Significance

freedom – V1 freedom – V2

0.900 0.809 9 990 466.324 1% Sig.

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The table gives the variables included in the equation corresponding regression coefficient and simple correlation value of each predictor variable with the dependent variables and partial correlation of each variable with that of dependent variable. Partial correlation is another important statistic which tells us what is the correlation is another important statistic which tells us what is the correlation of the each predictor variable with that of utilization value (dependent variable) in the equation concerned, when the effect of remaining other predictor variables are held constant.

In the same table the column marked T and significant T represent the values of T - Test statistic and what level it is significant respectively for each regression coefficient. Here the variables age, sex, occupation, and level of awareness are significant at 1 % level, marital status, educational qualification, and family size are significant at 5 % level and family income and monthly average spending amount variables are not significant.

R2 value is 80.9 % and F value is 466.324 and it is significant at 1 % level.

Using the regression coefficient, the regression equation is as follows.

The equation is = 0.199

-9.76E-02 (age)

0.903 (sex)

-3.381E-02 (marital status)

3.037E-02 (Educational Qualification)

-8.37E-02 (Occupation)

5.636E-03 (Family Income)

-0.032 (Family size)

0.113 (Level of Awareness)

-6.62E-03 (Monthly Average spending Amount)

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Conclusion:

The equation suggests that sex, educational qualification, family income, level of awareness are positively correlated and age, marital status, occupation, family size, monthly average spending amount are negatively correlated with the level of utilization. Hence, the service providers may try to create awareness among various category people by giving more advertisement and offers. If it is happened so more number of people will start utilizing the leisure services and spend their time joyfully and fruitfully.

References:

1. Burnaby B.C. (October 1998), Video Game Culture: Leisure and Play Preferences of B.C. Teens. 2. Brown, T.J. (1999), Antecedents of Culturally Significant Tourist Behaviour, Annals of Tourism Research, 26(3), 676 – 700. 3. Garry Henshall and Alan Kemp (2000), National Recreation Industry Associations in the New Millennium. 4. Jay S. Shivers, Lee J. Delisle 1997, The Story of Leisure, 224 pp.

Books

1. Amarchand, D. and Varadharajan, B., “Marketing”, 1989, Konark Pvt. Ltd.

2. Christopher Lovelock, Jochen Wirtz, “Services Marketing”, Fifth 2004, Pearson Education, Delhi.

3. Helen Woodruff, “Services Marketing”, First 1995, Rajiv Beri, Delhi.

4. Kothari, C.R. “Research Methodology”, Second Edition, New Age International.

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GLOBAL CHALLENGES OF EDUCATIONAL MARKETING

Felicia Ramona Birău,

Regional Public Finances General Directorate of Craiova, Romania

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ABSTRACT

The main purpose of this research article is to highlight the global challenges of educational marketing. Educational marketing is perceived as an interdisciplinary extension of the traditional marketing approach. Educational marketing is exploring possibilities for satisfying consumer cultural and educational needs in order to gain competitive advantage. The demand for goods and services (non-material) in this particular area is dependent on the intensity of consumer intrinsic motivation. In recent past, educational marketing represented an issue of major interest for academics, public authorities and the business community specialized in the field of marketing.

Keywords: educational marketing, customers, globalization, research methods, non-material goods

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Introduction

The concept of marketing is generally applied in the field of material goods, such as physical objects, material substances and resources, i.e. they are tangible, concrete. The physical environment, rather than intellectual or spiritual things, provides an extensive framework for applying marketing techniques. Basically, scientific methods and techniques are used to investigate the market and adapt effectively to the needs of consumers. The pursuit of material goods is significantly different from the basic idea of spiritual values and its implications in marketing. Non-material goods highlight the non physical ideas, values, beliefs, ethical norms, thoughts. However, this specific category includes intangible things with abstract meanings.

Educational marketing is based on a completely different approach, but it is an issue of great current interest. Nevertheless, in the context of globalization is very important to implement attractive and diversified educational programmes. Extrapolating traditional principles of marketing it is imperative to achieve performance by meeting the needs of the target customers from the market segment. In this particular case, target customers are those who are most likely to purchase/acquire/achieve from an educational institution (part of the educational system) and to whom it directs its marketing efforts. Educational marketing represents a fundamental part of educational policy and educational management of that organization. Moreover, educational management should include marketing strategies. Educational marketing policy should be developed by studying the motivations and symbolic representations of its target consumers based on their specific behaviour.

AN EXHAUSTIVE ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT PARADIGM

The theoretical framework specific to general principles of marketing is useful in order to build a concrete foundation for educational marketing and its profound implications for medium to long-term time horizon. The impression of placing material things beyond the knowledge of immaterial values is substantially contradicted in the context of educational marketing. A central place in this interdisciplinary approach includes the specific psychosocial environment considering the fact that reflects the own identity of the educational institution.

According to Drucker (1986): “marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” The author has also argued that “the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous… The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the

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product or service fits him and sells itself.” Moreover, in the same appreciative manner, Drucker suggested that the suitable slogan for business management should preferably be “from selling to marketing”.

The American Marketing Association provided a more elaborate definition of the general concept of marketing, ie : “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. (approved July 2013).”

Kotler (2000) revealed that “the field of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups, and organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services, ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and desires”. The author also highlights the frequent changes in customer behavior due to psychological resorts that marketers must take into account. Clearly, this empathy process is never simple and involves extensive efforts in achieving marketing objectives.

According to American Marketing Association : “Marketing research specifies the information required to address these issues, designs the method for collecting information, manages and implements the data collection process, analyzes the results, and communicates the findings and their implications (approved October 2004)”. In other words, the activity that involves marketing research is a strong linkage between consumers (in the broad sense of the term) and marketers (specialized persons) based on relevant information.

Educational marketing forms a theoretical conglomerate based on all the relevant information, ideologies, dogmas, values, assumptions, expectations and ethical standards which naturally derive from traditional marketing principles. An important aspect is to identify the target group and to direct the educational marketing strategies in an appropriate manner. On the other hand, it is necessary to perform a complex analysis on educational and training needs of potential customers from the target group. Naturally, the main purpose of marketing revolves around identifying and satisfying human and social needs. Thus, the major objective of educational marketing is derived from the need for knowledge and education. The implementation of educational marketing strategy requires complex activities based on fundamental marketing elements, known as the marketing mix (often called the 4Ps of marketing) - product, price, place and promotion.

Kotler, Kartajaya and Setiawan (2010) argued that “the public begins to expect companies to operate as engines for socio-cultural development and not engines for profit making”. The authors also highlight the paradoxes arising from the significant impact of globalization on the cultural perspective. Beyond the inherent barriers “globalization creates universal global culture while at the same time strengthens traditional culture as a counterbalance.”

Kotler (2000) has identified four fundamental categories of influence factors : cultural (culture, subculture, and social class), social (reference groups, family, and social roles and

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statuses), personal (age, stage in the life cycle, occupation, economic circumstances, lifestyle, personality, and self-concept), and psychological (motivation, perception, learning, beliefs, and attitudes). In addition to this statement with psychosocial connotations, Kotler and Armstrong (2007) analyzed those characteristics affecting consumer behavior. Thus, the influence of cultural factors is significant, being represented by language, religions, values and attitudes, customs, behavioral patterns. On the other hand, cultural pollution affects fundamental values of society, cultural perceptions and consumer behavior, especially in terms of globalization.

Educational managers must know the market research methodology in order to identify target consumers. Thus, in order to obtain necessary information, they elaborate a research plan that includes concepts, research methods and investigation techniques so as to achieve the educational marketing objectives. These investigation methods of marketing research are different categories, such as : exploratory, instrumental, descriptive, causal and predictive. Exploratory research provides a clear and concise insight on concepts, lead to the problems formulation in a rather precise manner, simplify the general approach and identify hypotheses. The instrumental approach is used for testing and validating methods and research tools. Descriptive methods aim to evaluate the parameters of an educational phenomenon. Causal research is based on the cause and effect relationship between variables. Thus, predictive methods are focused on the forecasting of a certain phenomenon, such as the educational market.

Conclusions

Educational marketing strategy focuses on the cyclical process of innovating, restructuring and permanent updating of educational programmes based on market feedback. The educational institution implements specific activities of educational marketing considering its strategic organizational management. Educational marketing is exploring possibilities for satisfying customer cultural and educational needs. Education is based on the values that are related to human needs. The demand for goods and services in this area is dependent on the intensity of consumer intrinsic motivation. As a marketing approach, the main interest is focused on delivering educational products and services in line with consumer education requirements, which are constantly changing in the turbulent context of the current economic reality. An exhaustive analysis of educational management new paradigm highlights both the advantages and limitations in order to satisfy the needs of the consumers.

The global challenges of educational marketing are based on advanced technology and high-speed communication in terms of satisfying customer (educational) needs. In light of this new millennium it is necessary to implement effective educational marketing

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strategies beyond the traditional approach and general principles of marketing. The main purpose of this research paper is to outline how marketing principles can be applied to educational system in an interdisciplinary approach such as educational marketing. In recent past, the overall marketing approach has been extended to the educational system in order to gain competitive advantage. The meanings of the word "education" are well known, but not always consumers are aware of the profound implications of the educational phenomenon, especially on long-term horizon.

REFERENCES

1. Drucker, F. P (1986) Management : Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices, Truman Talley Books / E.P. Dutton / New York, 553 pp., ISBN 0-525-24463-8

2. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G., Principles of Marketing (2007) Hardcover, 9th edition, Published by Prentice Hall (first published 1980), ISBN 0132390027

3. Kotler, P. (2000) Marketing Management: Millennium Edition, 10 edition, Prentice Hall PTR, 456 pp., ISBN 0130172871, 9780130172877

4. Kotler, P., Kartajaya, H., Setiawan, I. (2010) Marketing 3.0 From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 207 pp., ISBN 978-0- 470-59882-5

5. *** - https://www.ama.org/ American Marketing Association

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SUSTAINABLE TOURISM MARKETING: PROPOSAL OF AN OPTIMAL MIX

Dharna Shukla

Adjunct Faculty, Amity University, Dubai

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ABSTRACT

Marketing mix is seen as a tool that leads to a product offering to the target market. This is either traditionally done by various combinations of the 4 P‟s, namely Price, Product, Promotion and Place or through an extension of the Four P‟s to Seven P‟s namely People, Process and Physical Evidence. The Four C‟s namely Consumer wants and needs, Communication, Cost and Convenience have also been involved lately as a consumer oriented alternative to the Seven P‟s. The Seven P‟s have also been cross-referenced with the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable tourism as a solution to arrive at various optimal mixes and alleviate sustainable tourism issues. This paper attempts at arriving at an optimal mix that looks at another set of Four C‟s of sustainable or responsible tourism namely Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce being cross-referenced with the Four C‟s of the marketing mix. This optimal mix aims at providing sustainable options to the tourism market also aiding tourism marketers to handle important issues surrounding sustainability.

Keywords: Four C‟s of marketing mix, Four C‟s of sustainable tourism, Cross-referencing, Marketing Mix

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Introduction

Tourism industry is changing and more people are looking towards alternate forms of holidays in order to seek something new. Sustainable tourism is seen to be graduating to mainstream in the near future from its alternate form. Marketers need to realize this fact and actually look at their competitors who are sharing their sustainable practices with tourists. Therefore a more contemporary marketing mix becomes the requirement of today and the future.

The traditional Four P‟s of marketing Product, Place, Promotion and Price introduced (Mc Carthy, 1960) decades ago have been used to describe the marketing mix in sustainable tourism too. These have been extended to seven to include People, Process and Physical Evidence. Various combinations of these P‟s have been used by marketers over the decades to arrive at solutions to augment their businesses. But over the years the consumer and the society have undergone tremendous changes in reference to the economic scenario of today. The Four P‟s therefore have been recast to consumer-oriented Four C‟s that are Consumer wants and needs, Communication ,Cost and Convenience (Robert F.Lauterborn,1993).In sustainable tourism Four C‟s of Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce has been mentioned that have been built on the idea of low human impact and high environmental and community benefits.

This paper proceeds by first discussing the elements of the contemporary Four Cs of marketing mix and Four Cs of sustainable tourism in detail, then the importance of contemporary marketing mix in sustainable tourism before exploring further and conceptualizing the amalgamation between the mentioned elements to arrive at an optimal mix. An explanation in brief on the potential application of this framework is mentioned towards the end.

FROM FOUR P’S TO FOUR C’S OF MARKETING AND FOUR C’S OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Borden‟s (1965) original marketing mix had a set of twelve elements namely: product planning; pricing; branding; channels of distribution; personal selling; advertising; promotions; packaging; display; servicing; physical handling; and fact finding and analysis. They were later reduced to Four Ps (E.Jerome Mc Carthy, 1960) providing the basic framework for any marketing mix. Product “comprises the designed shape or form of a service offer, or product characteristics, that a business offers to targeted customers.” (Middleton and Hawkins, 1998).The product dimension to achieving sustainable tourism involves developing products that are more sustainable in nature and moving away from offering products which are not sustainable ( J.Swarbrooke, 2010). Middleton and Hawkins (1998) identified five characteristics of a 48

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product that need to be considered when attempting to make the existing or new products conform to the principles of sustainability which include design of facilities, sustainability in business operations, presentation of the product, service elements, branding projected to the customers.

“Pricing is used by commercial operators both strategically and tactically to manage demand around the available supply of products.” (Middleton and Hawkins 1998) For tourism to be sustainable tourists have to charged fair pricing also ensuring benefits for the industry equally at the same time.

“Place describes points of access that are necessary so that aware and motivated customers can easily transact their purchasing decisions (Middleton and Hawkins, 1998).In case of sustainable tourism, the travel intermediaries play a major role in distribution of related products.

The fourth one which is Promotion “communicates messages containing images, motivation and incentives about destinations to customers making choices”. (Middleton and Hawkins 1998)

From 1980‟s new P‟s started getting introduced into the marketing mix. Booms and Bitner (1980) added “Participants”,”Physical Evidence” and “Process”.

People includes “all human actors who play a part in service delivery and thus influence the buyer‟s perceptions: namely the firm‟s personnel, the customer, and other customers in the service environment” (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996, p. 26).

Physical evidence consists of the “environment in which the service is delivered and where the firm and customer interact, and any tangible components that facilitate performance or communication of the service” (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996, p. 26).

Process describes the “actual procedures, mechanisms, and flow of activities by which the service is delivered – the service delivery and operating systems” (Zeithaml and Bitner, 1996, p. 27).

Over the years and today the marketers have relied on the combination and permutation of these seven Ps to get the competitive edge and position them differently in the market (Alan Fyall, Brian Garrod 2005).The former four Ps were designed keeping the product aspect in mind; however tourism is a product and service mix of tangible and intangible elements. The addition of the three Ps ensures dealing with the service aspect of tourism (Alan Pomering, Lester Johnson, Gary Noble, 2010). However for the purpose of research in this paper, the 4 Cs will remain in consideration.

The concept of four Ps has been criticised as being a production-oriented definition of marketing, and not customer-oriented (Popovic, 2006). Moller (2006) points out that the marketing mix using four P‟s regards customers as passive and cannot capture relationships,

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cannot help personify marketing activities and doesnot take into consideration service marketing .Bob Lauterborn (2006) proposes an approach which is service oriented rather than being product oriented.

Consumer wants and need replaces Product. The product needs to address the requirements of the consumer. In sustainable tourism the consumer expects sustainable options to be a part of his journey and will not ask for them.

Cost replaces Price. Price is one aspect of cost to satisfy. It includes other costs such as cost of going to a store or cost of conscience.

Convenience to buy replaces Place. A tourist can buy the sustainable tourism experience of product and services anywhere. For example: internet, brochures etc. Distribution channels need diversification.

Communication replaces Promotion. Promotion is from the seller. Communication is a two way process. As a marketer in the sustainable tourism process it becomes imperative to listen to the consumer who wants to experience this alternate form of tourism.

The four Cs of sustainable tourism are Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce (Jochen Zeitz, 2008). These provide quantitative analysis with regards to social, environmental and financial performance. Conservation is safeguarding this biodiversity and the integrity of the ecosystem services it provides which support global needs (www.thelongrun.com). Community refers to honest, mutually beneficial and dignified relationships with rural community that is partnered in ways that deliver a meaningful and life-changing share of the proceeds of responsible ecotourism to all stakeholders. Mechanisms include community-centric employment, joint ventures, education and training, social and health benefits, capacity-building and infrastructure development (www.wilderness-holdings.com). Culture is a multifaceted element that governs respect for the culture of all employees as well as remote rural communities surrounding the conservation areas. This is reflected in: a healthy social environment in ; area-appropriate design, décor, entertainment and meals; respect for traditional rights within and surrounding the conservation area; and communication of the area‟s traditional culture to guests and staff (www.wilderness-holdings.com). The dimension of Commerce addresses the sustainability of a business as sustainable commercial operations offer the capacity to provide a source of income for people that depend on it, as well as for reinvesting back into the initiatives in each of the 4Cs(www.thelongrun.com). These have been described and measured both qualitatively and quantitatively as a substantial contribution to the concept of sustainable tourism.

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CONTEMPORARY MARKETING MIX IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

Consistent environmental damage and economic stringency around the globe is building pressure on tourism businesses to change. This calls for more responsibility environmentally, economically and socially amongst the stakeholders. To assess progress towards more sustainable forms of tourism there is a need for relevant monitoring systems. Ideally these systems should focus on assessing the extent to which existing business practices in tourism are aligned with and help to achieve core sustainability goals (Waldron and Williams 2002). The consumers' and society's requirements of business are now broader than purely economic criteria, with production and procurement functions now expected to tackle major sustainability challenges (Brownlie and Saren 1992). Public wants business to play a broader role in society than driving shareholder wealth, want to hear how business is doing this, and will reward more socially responsible organisations for doing so ( Alan Pomering, Lester Johnson, Gary Noble, 2009).

The components of the marketing mix can change a firm‟s competitive position (Grönroos, 1994). Number of researchers (eg. Grönroos, 1994; Constantinides, 2002; Goi, 2005; Möller, 2006) explored more „P‟s instead of traditional 4Ps only currently applied in the market. Ko (2004) argues that the issues and concerns related to sustainable tourism vary from one tourism destination to another. Hence, he suggests that dimensions, indicators and data gathering methods could vary from one tourist destination to another, in order to adapt the methodology to the specific conditions of each tourist destination.

Proposing a contemporary marketing mix in sustainable tourism aims at improving the sustainable tourism prospects that emerge as part of growing tourism in countries. Sustainable tourism has been defined as:

“Sustainable tourism development requires the informed participation of all relevant stakeholders, as well as strong political leadership to ensure wide participation and consensus building. Achieving sustainable tourism is a continuous process and it requires constant monitoring of impacts, introducing the necessary preventive and/or corrective measures whenever necessary.

Sustainable tourism should also maintain a high level of tourist satisfaction and ensure a meaningful experience to the tourists, raising their awareness about sustainability issues and promoting sustainable tourism practices amongst them. "

World Tourism Organization, 2004

This definition can further be augmented by Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) which is a comprehensive set of principles designed to guide key-players in tourism development. These principles are:

 Tourism's contribution to mutual understanding and respect between peoples and societies 51

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 Tourism as a vehicle for individual and collective fulfillment  Tourism, a factor of sustainable development  Tourism, a user of the cultural heritage of mankind and contributor to its enhancement  Tourism, a beneficial activity for host countries and communities  Obligations of stakeholders in tourism development  Right to tourism  Liberty of tourist movements  Rights of the workers and entrepreneurs in the tourism industry  Implementation of the principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism

The Code‟s principles cover the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable tourism also co-relating with the Four Cs of Sustainable Tourism.

The proposed contemporary tourism marketing mix cross- references the Four C‟s of sustainable or responsible tourism namely Conservation, Community, Culture and Commerce being cross-referenced with the Four C‟s of the marketing mix.

Conservation Community Culture Commerce

Communication

Cost

Convenience

Consumer Wants and Needs

Table 1: Proposed Optimal Marketing Mix for Sustainable Tourism

This marketing mix is in line with the principles set in Global Code of Ethics for tourism ensuring there is continuity of sustainable tourism.

Cross- referencing Conservation with the Four C‟s of Marketing: Through this mix it is suggestive that effective and efficient communication campaigns in support of nature conservation policy or plans as well as using communication in a more interactive way to establish partnerships and create census amongst stakeholders may be achieved (ECNC- European Centre for Nature Conservation, 2000). Understanding both the economic benefits and costs of conserving ecosystems will help to allocate scarce dollars most efficiently (Robin Naidoo, Taylor H.Rickets, 2006). A tourist can buy the sustainable tourism experience of product and services anywhere (Bob Lauterborn, 2006), that is, convenience marries conservation. Ensuring the preservation of destinations and cultures for future generations equates to more attractive environments, and increased satisfaction from your

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guests (NTA Tour Operators Guide to Sustainable Tourism, 2010).In other words, consumer wants and needs are satisfied through conservation acting as the product here.

Cross-referencing Community with the Four C‟s of Marketing: Community involvement and participation in sustainable tourism development process is vital for sustainable tourism. Community leaders are an important communication channel (Communication and Sustainable Tourism, 2006). Communication tools mentioned as effective ways to involve local communities in tourism development included training; participatory workshops, community, group and individual meetings; local radio; school newsletters and local events (Communication and Sustainable Tourism, 2006). Community members have to be assured that the costs incurred at the present will achieve long term benefits. This understanding will achieve more participation from the community. Local communities benefit from sustainable tourism through economic development, job creation, and infrastructure development raising the standards of living. Marketers should know how the target market prefers to buy, how to be there and be ubiquitous, in order to guarantee convenience to buy (B.Lauterborn, 1990). Community can aid marketers in this process due to their extensive knowledge of the local areas in collaboration with marketers‟ awareness of various forms of media which can take the product to the target market. When travelling, consumers will also purchase fair and locally sourced products when the option to do so is well advertised, easy and affordable (TUI Travel 2012). Local community here has an apparent involvement as they become suppliers of their products to the consumers in travel and tourism business.

Cross-referencing Culture with the Four C‟s of Marketing: Realization of the fact that culture can be regarded as an economic good can lead to strengthened efforts from locals as well as from national, regional and local governments to enhance environmental education and protection activities (Criteria For Sustainable tourism, 2008, Katrin Gebhard, Michael Meyer, Stephanie Roth) .Effective and innovative communication tools add value to the culture of a place. Cultural experience for tourists is to experience authentic lifestyle that is different to their own, therefore there is a need for tourism development to consider the host community, and develop tourism in a manner that is consistent with the lifestyle aspirations of that community (Lisa Beesley, 2005).

Cross-referencing Commerce with the Four C‟s of Marketing: Business has been a core activity for many years and will be so forever. Uncontrolled it may have negative impacts on the environment (www.zeitzfoundation.org).Commerce or trading always involves a price a customer has to pay and for tourism to be sustainable, the tourist needs to be charged a fair pricing for the use of entire tourism product. In terms of communication, tourism enterprises can benefit by sharing ideas and products with each other through various communication channels. With the rise of e-commerce globally, it is important for destinations to have the capacity to provide tourism information, secure bookings and accept payments online. With reference to tourism products and services, their availability needs to be at places of convenience of tourists of sustainable tourism. Consumers are more diverse; more experienced more demanding, more quality conscious and more sophisticated consumers for 53

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travel and tourism (V.T.C.Middleton, Jackie.R.Clarke, 2001). Sustained financial prosperity keeping consumers needs and wants in perspective will lead to responsible business.

It may be suggestive that new version of 4 C‟s of Sustainable Tourism have been conjoined with Bob Lauterborn‟s 4 C‟s of Marketing in the research. But this is a contemporary approach of marketing mix that is the requirement of today‟s times keeping in line with how Global Sustainable Tourism Council puts it “Promoting the widespread adoption of global sustainable tourism standards to ensure the tourism industry continues to drive conservation and poverty alleviation.” The suggested marketing mix would make decision making easier for managers of sustainable tourism business with regards to communication, cost, consumer wants and needs and convenience.

Conclusion The dynamics of tourism are changing with consumer‟s choices moving over to taking responsible holidays. The concept of four P‟s constituting the marketing mix is a product centric approach and needs revisiting .Hence a robust and dynamic marketing mix model which has the elements of service oriented four C‟s of Bob Lauterborn‟s (2006) and the contemporary four C‟s of sustainable tourism is a proposal made through this paper. The model is suggestive that conservation is safeguarding the biodiversity and improving it upon which lies heavily the business of sustainable tourism, community is the backbone of any sustainable tourism operation, community member‟s involvement is vital as they are the brand ambassadors contributing to the revenue and the product diversification, cultural goods‟ recognition as economically beneficial can lead to sustained efforts from governments at all levels and commerce is vital to run any operations successfully to keep sustainability in tourism going. Managers of sustainable tourism businesses stand to benefit using this simple yet holistic approach. Future recommendations for this model would include analyzing it further by quantifying the elements and studying their measurability in numbers and building up case studies that are successful examples of sustainable tourism achieved through the application of the proposed model.

REFERENCES

1. Alan Fyall and Brian Garrod (2005) : Tourism Marketing , A Collaborative Approach : Channel View Publications

2. Alan Pomering, Lester W .Johnson and Gary Noble (2010) : Conceptualising a contemporary marketing mix for sustainable tourism marketing : Proceedings of the 20th Annual Conference of the Council for Australian University Tourism and

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Hospitality Education (CAUTHE) Hobart: School of Management, University of Tasmania

3. Bob Lauterborn, (1990): New Marketing Litany: Four Ps Passé: C-Words Take Over.:Advertising Age

4. Booms B. H. & Bitner B. J. (1980). Marketing strategies and organisation structures for service firms. In Donnelly, J. & George W. R. (Eds.), Marketing of services. American Marketing Association, 47-51

5. Borden, N. H. (1965). The concept of the marketing mix. In Schwartz, G. (Ed), Science in marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 386-397

6. Brownlie, Douglas, and Saren, Michael (1992):“The four Ps of the marketing concept:Prescriptive, polemical, permanent and problematical” : European Journal of Marketing. Vol. 26 (4) pp. 34-47

7. Constantinides, E. (2002). The 4S Web-Marketing Mix Model. Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, 1(1), 57-76.

8. ECNC-European Centre for Nature Conservation, 2000 : Using communication in support of nature conservation 9. Fein Wei : Compendium of Best Practices in Sustainable Tourism :United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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11. Grönroos, C. (1994). From Marketing Mix to Relationship Marketing: Towards A Paradigm Shift in Marketing Management Decision, 32(2), 4-20

12. J.Swarbrooke (2010 Edition), Sustainable Tourism Management : CAB International : Pgs.217 -227

13. Katrin Gebhard, Michael Meyer, Stephanie Roth (2007) : Criteria For Sustainable Tourism in Three Biosphere Reserves of Aggtelek, Babia Gora and Sumava : Ecological Tourism in Europe(ETE) and UNESCO – Man and Biosphere Programme

14. Ko, T.G., (2004-2005): Development of a tourism sustainability assessment procedure: a conceptual approach : Tourism Management, 26 (3), 431-44

15. Lisa Beesley(2005) : The Potential Role of Cultural Tourism on Gold Coast : Cooperative Research Centre For Sustainable Tourism Pty Ltd 2005

16. McCarthy, E. Jerome (1960) : Basic Marketing: A Managerial Approach : Homewood, IL: Irwin

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17. Möller, K. (2006). The Marketing Mix Revisited: Towards the 21st Century Marketing by E. Constantinides. Journal of Marketing Management, 22(3), 439-450.

18. NTA Tour Operators Guide To Sustainable Tourism (2010) : Sustainable Travel International

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20. Popovic, D. (2006). Modelling the Marketing of High-Tech Start-Ups. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 14(3), 260-276.

21. Robert F.Lauterborn(1993) : Integrated Marketing Communication: Pulling It Together And Making It Work : NTC,1993

22. Robin Naidoo,Taylor H.Rickets (2006) : Mapping the economic costs and benefits of conservation : PLOS

23. Role of Communication in Sustainable Tourism e-conference (June 2006):Planeta.com (Communication and Sustainable Tourism,2006)

24. V.T.C.Middleton and R.Hawkins (1998): Sustainable Tourism : A Marketing Perspective: Oxford : Butterworth-Heinmann

25. V.T.C. Middleton and Jackie R.Clarke (2001) : Marketing in Travel and Tourism : Butterworth Heinemann

26. Waldron, D. and Williams, P. (2002) Steps towards sustainability monitoring: the case of the resort municipality of Whistler. In: Harris, R., Griffin, T. and Williams, P. (Eds) Sustainable Tourism:a global perspective, pp. 180-194. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann

27. Zeithaml, V., Bitner, M.J. & Gremler, D.D. (2006). Services Marketing, Integrating Customer Focus Across the Firm. New York: McGraw-Hill

28. Zeitz Jochen (2008) ,The Zeitz Foundation Annual Report 2013

WEBSITES: 1. www.thelongrun.com 2. www.wilderness-holdings.com 3. www.zeitzfoundation.org 4. www.gstcouncil.org 5. www.unep.org 6. http://www2.unwto.org 7. www.tuitravelplc.com 56

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A STUDY ON THE ONLINE PARTICIPATION OF THE CUSTOMERS AND THEIR OVERALL SATISFACTION ABOUT THE ONLINE SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE LIFE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF INDIA

Dr. Partha Sarathi Choudhuri Department of Business Administration The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India ======

ABSTRACT

In modern age of the society, the technology savvy customers are becoming highly dependent on the information technology (IT) and they are fulfilling their various needs and requirements through internet which is actually replacing the human interactions by the interactions of human-technology. Satisfaction of the customers depends on a number of factors and based on these factors customers generally try to estimate their overall satisfaction with their service providers. As customer satisfaction has now become the ultimate goal to the different service providers so like any other companies, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) is also trying to develop its IT infrastructure in order to provide better information technology enabled services to their customers than before. In the present context, in this paper the researcher conducted a study to observe the online participation scenario of the LICI customers and their overall satisfaction about the online services provided by the Life Insurance Corporation of India in Burdwan district, West Bengal. In this study, accepted 221 usable responses were considered as the sample size and statistical package SPSS 16 was used to perform the analyses.

Keywords: Customer, Information Technology, Insurance, Online Participation, Online Service, Overall Satisfaction.

======

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Introduction

In 21st century information technology (IT) has become the backbone of every industry, especially for the service industries, all over the world. The service industries are now trying to get competitive advantage over their competitors through the use of information technology and information technology enabled services (ITES). Due to the effect of the several factors of the globalization, customers‟ socio-economic culture have already been changed and they have not so much of time to spare with the insurer neither to understand the different life insurance policies or schemes nor to perform their different transactional operations rather they are becoming more expecting about the information technology and information technology enabled services in their life. Information technology has a great role for the customer and through online participation customers can get detailed information regarding the various products and services offered by the organizations, compare the prices of the products and perform their transactional operations in a very fast and secure way. Satisfaction of the customers comes only when their needs and wants are fulfilled. Rust and Oliver (1994) explained the customer satisfaction as “a summary of cognitive and affective reaction to a service incident (or sometimes to a long-term service relationship). Satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) results from experiencing a service quality encounter and comparing that encounter with what was expected”. Because of liberalization, at present along with one and only public life insurance company namely Life Insurance Corporation of India (LICI) a number of private and foreign life insurance companies are operating in the Indian life insurance market and providing varieties of services to the customers. Customer satisfaction has now become the most important objective of the firms through which they will be able to retain their own customers as well as will be able to attract the new customers in the global competitive market. The largest life insurance company of India namely Life Insurance Corporation of India is no exception to this. Realizing the present situation, LICI is now trying to move their focus from the product to the customers where service quality has become the key driver for the business success in the market. From the very early age of the business, LIC has not only implemented information technology in their operations and

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providing various ITES to their customers but also adopted various strategies to modernize their present IT infrastructure. In order to survive in the future and to achieve maximum growth in the present competitive insurance market, LIC is now dedicatedly involved in the development of new strategies for the purpose of the customer satisfaction through the proper improvement of the quality of online services with the help of information technology in the efficient manner. In the present context, to study the online participation of the LICI customers and their overall satisfaction about the online services provided by the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the current study has been conducted on the life insurance customers of all the 17 branches of the Life Insurance Corporation of India located in Burdwan district, West Bengal.

Review Of Literature

Pitt et al. (1999) expressed that information technology may be considered as a platform that rides on the Internet, a hypermedia information storage system which connects computer- based resources around the world. Kolesar and Galbraith (2000), Meuter et al. (2000) observed that consumers are actively participating in searching the web and web page, selecting products or services, and ordering merchandise or services so their level of knowledge about the computers and products, their ability and experience with the computer capabilities affect the way they analyze their online transactions. Lee and Allaway (2002) indicated that depending on perceived competence, superiority and mastery over the technology-based services, customers‟ readiness of adoption of technology-based services happen where the perceptions of technology-based services depend on the “complex composite of predictability, controllability and outcome desirability”. Bobbitt and Dabholkar (2001) specified that if current and potential customers observe a web page or on-line service as effective, convenient, and enjoyable, they are more likely to go on-line or go on line again. Monczka and Morgan (2000) stated that as consumers have more choices and the on-line approach had made these choices much easier to learn and access so they are becoming more sophisticated, knowledgeable and demanding in part. Childers et al. (2001); Wolfinbarger and Gilly (2003); Barnes and Hinton (2007) concentrated their focus on the unique capabilities of the online medium which gives interactivity, personalized experiences, community, content, increased product selection and information when the population of the internet users are growing in a fast way. Shang and Seddon (2002) noted that information technology is playing

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an important role in attaining organizational benefits, mainly because of its ability to transform resources into core capabilities, and at times, facilitate and accelerate a change in organizational culture. Observing the role of information technology in fulfillment of the customers‟ various needs and requirements in life insurance (Choudhuri, 2014) and the dependency of the life insurance customer satisfaction on the information technology (Choudhuri, 2013), in life insurance industry, the organizational performance in the office operation of systems technology leaders was linked to the level of information technology investment intensity (Harris and Katz, 1991). Customer satisfaction or end-user satisfaction with an information system can be defined as the overall affective evaluation and end-user has relation with his or her experience in the information system (Chin and Lee, 2000). Satisfaction is the result of the ability of technology-based services to solve intensive needs immediately, save time and money, and avoid service personnel interaction where dissatisfaction is the result of the customer-driven failures like customer misuse of technology (Meuter et al., 2000). The ability of technology-based services to function correctly; the extent to which service is perceived as enjoyable, secure, and convenient; and the level of security and customized technology-based services generate customer satisfaction within technology-based services (Lin and Hsieh, 2006). “User satisfaction is just one measure of the effectiveness of the IS function and assessing it alone is not sufficient to determine the overall effectiveness of the IS function” (Myers et al., 1997). Thus, Mahmood et al. (2000) asserted that the widely accepted indicator of information technology service success is user satisfaction which is according to Zviran and Erlich (2003); Mohamed and Liu (2004) an important proxy for measuring the success as well as performance of an information technology service department.

Methodology

The basic objective of the current study was to observe the online participation scenario of the LICI customers and their overall satisfaction about the online services provided by the Life Insurance Corporation of India. In conjunction with this, the researcher also wanted to examine whether online participation of the LICI customers is related with the proper development of the IT infrastructure in the LICI or not and for this purpose the researcher at first formulated following null and alternative hypotheses:

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H0: Online participation of the LICI customers is not related with the development of IT infrastructure.

Ha: Online participation of the LICI customers is very much related with the development of IT infrastructure.

To collect the data, initial questionnaire was developed as a survey instrument where along with the other items, online participation of the LICI customers, need of the development of IT infrastructure, pattern of the customers‟ online visit, problem related incident during customers‟ online visit and the overall satisfaction of the customers about the online services provided by the LICI were included in the questionnaire. The pilot study was conducted randomly selecting 30 customers for this study. After explaining objectives and purpose of the study, researcher tried to get valuable feedback from these customers. Based on this pilot study, the preliminary analysis established the internal consistency of the items within questionnaire and gave the confirmation of validity and reliability of final survey instrument. The structure of the questionnaire is both open-ended and close-ended and consisted seven point Likert scale ranging from 1-strongly disagrees to 7-strongly agree. After successfully completion of the pilot study, considering different demographic profile of the respondents and using random sampling technique, selecting all the 17 LIC branches located in Burdwan district, total 350 questionnaires were distributed among the customers where 289 customers were agreed to give response and finally obtained 221 usable responses which were considered as the sample size for this study. Here, statistical package SPSS 16 was used to perform the analyses.

Results And Discussions

Based on the demographic data of the LICI customers which was collected through cross- sectional survey for the purpose of the study, the central tendency of the various demographic profiles of the customers was measured. The summarized demographic profile of the customers of the study is now given in Table 1:

Table 1: Demographic profile of the customers

Demographic Std. Demographic Characteristics Frequency Mean Median Mode Variable Deviation Gender Male 192 ( 86.9 ) 1.1312 1.0000 1.00 0.33841

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Female 29 ( 13.1 ) ≤ 30 years 51 ( 23.1 ) 31 - 40 years 66 ( 29.9 ) Age 41 - 50 years 38 ( 17.2 ) 2.6154 2.0000 2.00 1.26905 51 - 60 years 49 ( 22.2 ) ≥ 60 years 17 ( 7.7 ) ≤ Rs.14999.00 30 ( 13.6 )

Rs.15000.00 -Rs.24999.00 102 ( 46.2 ) Income 2.3529 2.0000 2.00 0.82150 Rs.25000.00 -Rs.44999.00 70 ( 31.7 )

≥ Rs.45000.00 19 ( 8.6 ) Salaried 174 ( 78.7 ) Business 15 ( 6.8 ) Occupation Professional 11 ( 5.0 ) 1.4661 1.0000 1.00 1.00226 Retired 18 ( 8.1 ) Housewife 3 ( 1.4 ) High school 14 ( 6.3 ) Graduate 56 ( 25.3 ) Educational Post-graduate 38 ( 17.2 ) 3.1991 4.0000 4.00 1.08970 Qualifications Professional 98 ( 44.3 ) Any other 15 ( 6.8 ) Center of the town 144 ( 65.2 ) Locality of Outskirts of the town 30 ( 13.6 ) 1.5611 1.0000 1.00 0.82138 Living Rural areas adjoining town 47 ( 21.3 ) Mobile Phone 64 ( 29.0 ) Modern Aids 1.4208 2.0000 2.00 0.90921 Combination of mobile & internet 157 ( 71.0 ) * Percentage (%) in parenthesis

From the above table it is clear to understand that among 86.9% of male and 13.1% of female customers, the two largest age groups of 29.9% and 23.1% belong to the age groups of 31-40 years and ≤ 30 years respectively, i.e., young generation. In addition to this, 22.2% respondents belong to the age group of 51-60 years and 17.2% respondents belong to the age group of 41-50 years. Old generation, i.e., ≥ 60 years represents 7.7% of the respondents. Major respondents, that is, 46.2% had monthly household income Rs.15000.00 - Rs.24999.00 where 31.7% respondents‟ earning were Rs.25000.00 - Rs.44999.00 per month, 13.6% respondents‟ monthly household income were ≤ Rs.14999.00 and 8.6% respondents‟ income were ≥ Rs.45000.00 per month. Most of the customers (78.7%) were salaried employees

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where as 8.1% customers were retired persons. 6.8% customers were businessmen, 5% were professionals and housewives were only 1.4%. 44.3% customers (the biggest group) had the background of professional qualifications where 25.3% were graduate, 17.2% were post- graduate, other qualified persons were only 6.8% and 6.3% customers were high school qualified. The most of the customers (65.2%) live at the center of the town where 21.3% live at rural areas adjoining the town and 13.6% customers live at outskirts of the town. It is easy to observe that where maximum customers (71%) accessed the modern aids of mobile and internet there significantly 29% customers used only mobile.

To test the hypothesis, i.e., whether online participation of the LICI customers is related with the proper development of the IT infrastructure in the LICI or not the following Bivariate Correlation analysis was performed at here.

Table 2: Bivariate Correlation result of Online Participation and IT infrastructure

Online Participation IT infrastructure

Pearson Correlation 1 .273*

Online Participation Sig. (2-tailed) . .046

N 221 221

Pearson Correlation .273* 1 IT infrastructure Sig. (2-tailed) .046 .

N 221 221

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

From the above table it is clear to understand that Pearson Correlation Coefficient was statistically significant [* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)]. So, there exist strong positive relationship in between online participation of the LICI customers and the necessity of the development of IT infrastructure in LICI [0.273*, Sig. 0.046 (significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed))] in the present insurance market. That‟s why the null hypothesis has rejected and alternative hypothesis “Online participation of the LICI customers is very much related with the development of IT infrastructure” has accepted at here.

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From the respondents, it was also observed that 87.2% young customers are accessing the modern aids of mobile and internet in their daily life and 23.7% customers stated that they receive different types of information from their insurers through e-mail and/or SMS on a regular basic. Another important data came out from these respondents that 33% customers visited LIC branch minimum 24 months ago and 82.3% young customers never visited any LIC branch after opening of their LIC policies and in these two cases, most of the customers were agreed that they are now accomplishing their various insurance related works through internet. The study on the online participation scenario of the LICI customers and their overall satisfaction about the online services are summarized in the following Table 3.

Table 3: Online participation vis-à-vis overall satisfaction of the customers

Variables Characteristics Frequency

For transactional purpose 87 (39.4)

For getting information 36 (16.3) Visit online Any other purposes 5 (2.3)

Never 93 (42.1)

Yes 10 (7.8) Faced problem during online visit? No 118 (92.2)

Disappointed 4 (1.8)

Dissatisfied 38 (17.2)

Dissatisfied somewhat 31 (14.03)

Overall satisfaction about the online services Undecided 39 (17.6)

Satisfied somewhat 54 (24.4)

Satisfied 30 (13.6)

Delighted 25 (11.3) * Percentage (%) in parenthesis

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The Table 3 indicates that majority of the customers (42.1%) never visited any online system of the organization for any purposes where 39.4% customers visited the online system for transactional purpose, the online visit of 16.3% customers‟ purpose were to get information and only 2.3% customers visited the online system for miscellaneous purpose. Table 3 also shows that 92.2% customers faced no problem during their online visit where only 7.8% customers faced problem in their online visit. From Table 3 it is easy to observe that 24.4% customers are satisfied somewhat about the online services offered by the LIC where dissatisfied somewhat customers are 14.03%. The satisfied and dissatisfied customers‟ percentages are respectively 13.6 and 17.2 where delighted and disappointed customers‟ percentages are respectively 11.3 and 1.8. Here, 17.6% customers were undecided situation to express their overall satisfaction about the online services presented by the Life Insurance Corporation of India.

Conclusions

The basic objective of the current study was to observe the online participation scenario of the LICI customers and their overall satisfaction about the online services provided by the Life Insurance Corporation of India in Burdwan district and for this purpose the appropriate survey instrument, questionnaire, was developed to collect the date from the customers. The hypothesis testing established that online participation of the LICI customers is strongly related with the proper development of the IT infrastructure in the LICI. Study pointed out that for several reasons 57.9% LICI customers are actively participating on the online system and out of these customers only a few percentage of customers faced problem during their online visit. Study also revealed that a good percentage of the customers are till eventually attached in different ways with their insurer LICI without getting full satisfaction about the online services provided to them. So, it is expected that in order to maintain as well as to gain imperative market share in the present competitive life insurance market, the Life Insurance Corporation of India has to do better something to enhance the overall satisfaction of the customers about the online services through proper renovation of their present IT infrastructure in an efficient and effective way.

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References

1. Barnes, D., & Hinton, M. (2007). Developing a framework to analyze the roles and relationships of online intermediaries. International Journal of Information Management, 27(2), 63-74. 2. Bobbitt, L.M. & Dabholkar, RA. (2001). Integrating attitudinal theories to understand and predict use of technology based self-service: The Internet as an illustration. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 12(5), 423-450.

3. Childers, T., Carr, C., Peck, J., & Carson, S. (2001). Hedonic and utilitarian motivations for online retail shopping behavior. Journal of Retailing, 77(4), 511- 535.

4. Chin, W.W., & Lee, M. K. O. (2000). A proposed model and measurement instrument for the formation of IS satisfaction: The case of end-user computing satisfaction. Proceedings of The Twenty First International Conference On Information Systems. pp. 175-186. 5. Choudhuri, P. S. (2013). “Dependency of customer satisfaction on the information technology in Life Insurance Corporation of India”, International Journal of Research in Management & Technology, Vol. 3, No. 6 (December), pp. 153-159. 6. Choudhuri, P. S. (2014). “Information technology in fulfillment of the various needs of the LICI customers”, Zenith International Journal of Business Economics & Management Research, Vol. 4, No. 2 (February), pp. 203-210. 7. Harris S. E. & Katz J. L. (1991). Firm size and Information Technology Investment Intensity of Life Insurers. Special Issue: Strategic use of Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, 15(3), 333-352. 8. Kolesar, M.B. & Galbraith, R.W. (2000). A services-marketing perspective on e- retailing: implications for e-retailers and directions for further research. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, Vol. 10 (November), pp. 424-438. 9. Lee, J., & Allaway, A. (2002). Effects of personal control on adoption of self-service technology innovations. The Journal of Services Marketing, 16, 553-573.

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10. Lin, J., & Hsieh, P. (2006). The role of technology readiness in customers' perception and adoption of self-service technologies. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 17(5), 497-517. 11. Mahmood, M. A., Burn, J. M., Gemoets, L. A. & Jacquez, C. (2000). Variables affecting information technology end-user satisfaction: meta-analysis of the empirical literature. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 52, 751-771. 12. Meuter, M.L., Ostrom, A.L., Roundtree, R.I. & Bitner, M.J. (2000). “Self-service technologies: understanding customer satisfaction with technology-based service encounters”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 64 No. 3, pp. 50-65. 13. Mohamed, K. & Liu, V. (2004). “The state of research on information system satisfaction”. Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application. Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 37-55. 14. Monczka, R.M. & Morgan, J.P. (2000). Competitive supply strategies for the 21st century. Purchasing, 128(1), 48-59. 15. Myers, B., Kappelman, L., & Prybutok, V. (1997). A comprehensive model for assessing the quality and productivity of the information systems function: Toward a theory for information systems assessment. Information Resources Management Journal, 10(1), 6-25. 16. Pitt L., Berthon, P. & Watson, R.T. (1999). "Cyber service: taming service marketing problems with the World Wide Web", Business Horizons, Vol. 42 No. 1, pp. 11-18. 17. Shang, S., & Seddon, P. (2002). Assessing and managing the benefits of enterprise systems: The business manager‟s perspective. Information Systems Journal, 12(4), 271-299.

18. Wolfinbarger, M. & Gilly, M. (2003). eTailQ: Dimensionizing, measuring and predicting etail quality. Journal of Retailing, 79(3), 183-198.

19. Zviran, M. & Erlich, Z. (2003). Measuring IS user satisfaction: Review and implications. Communications of the Association for Information systems, 12(5), 81- 103.

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HOSPITALITY AND ITS IMPORTANCE TO THE TOURISM INDUSTRY: A CASE STUDY ON SELECTED HOTELS IN KOLKATA

Dr. Debaprasad Banerjee Principal Global Group of Institutions, Haldia, West Bengal, India ======

ABSTRACT

Tourism plays a large role in the world economy and is an important source of wealth for many countries, particularly developing countries where tourism may be the main source of economic prosperity. In recent years, the term hospitality has become increasingly popular and may be interpreted in a number of ways whether it is commercial or industrial and public services. In recent years, the term hospitality has become increasingly popular and may be interpreted in a number of ways whether it is commercial or industrial and public services. There are several components in the tourism industry, for example, food and beverages, lodging, place of attractions, and transportation. All three components are related to the hospitality. Each of the components has the connection to each other. Hotel guests spend money in the retail, recreation, transportation and restaurant sectors. And hotels provide a forum for business meetings, trade shows and conventions which in turn generate economic growth. At the same time the industry faces increasing pressure to balance its economic performance with its social and environmental impacts. Acknowledging that this is the context in which we conduct our business, we believe that travel and tourism should be operated responsibly and that the long-term benefits of taking this approach far outweigh the costs. In this study, tourists both domestic and international have been surveyed on their level of perceptions and satisfactions on various factors of tourism resources, destination image, product offering, destination competitiveness and level of satisfaction.

Keywords: Hospitality, tourism industry, hotels

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Introduction

India is rapidly becoming one of the most sought after economies in the world. With a

GDP growth of 7 to 9%, year on year for the last four years, an increasing emphasis on infrastructure development, a new branding of the country as a tourist destination, Incredible India is poised to grow dramatically into one of the world's leading economies in another ten to fifteen years. With its unique mix of tradition, culture and modernity it is a must visit on the list of destinations for global travellers. The tourism industry is leading the way in India achieving worldwide recognition and popularity.

Tourism has been a major social phenomenon of the societies all along. It is motivated by the natural of every human being for new experience and learning while taking part in adventure, educational, entertainment and cultural activities. The motivations for tourism also include social, religious and business interests. The spread of education fosters a desire to know more about different parts of the globe. The basic human thirst for new experience and knowledge has become stronger as communication barriers are getting overcome by technological advancement. The significance of tourism is given thrust as it is an important instrument for economic development and employment generation, particularly in remote and backward areas. It is the largest service industry globally in terms of gross revenue as well as foreign exchange earnings. Tourism can play an important and effective role in achieving the growth with equity objectives.

Tourism is basically an economic activity on the part of the host community. With this understanding it has also been recognized that if tourism is to develop it is necessary that infrastructure required for the purpose should also be developed in advance. In fact, it has been more than recognized in the knowledgeable circles that it is necessary that the infrastructure facility should go ahead of the demand, if the demand is to build itself up to a level consistent with the size of bur country, with the tourist attraction that this country can offer and the economic benefits that will accrue from tourism to this country.

Historically, people have always travelled for reason of business, government, education and religion. However, before, the twentieth century, widespread travel for pleasure was another 69

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matter altogether. Today holiday travel is increasingly justified by the need to find relief from the stress of work, to recuperate or improve one's personal health, or simply to escape from routine and the familiar. Even with the advent of technology that is designed to reduce the need for business travel, face to face discussion and presentation still remains a standard means of developing and conducting business in the global market place. Thus, the development and successful management of hotels has become an increasingly important component of the economy. Hospitality, especially in its commercial incarnation as the "Hotel", has emerged as the Hub, or the most vital segment, of the infrastructure facilities for travel and tourism industry anywhere around the globe. It has been observed that there exists a strong, positive, two-way, interactive correlation between the level and pace of growth of tourist traffic and the quantity and quality of provisioning of hospitality.

Hospitality industry has steadily acquired and increasingly significant positions tin the global economy. A simplistic over view of the same may show it merely as a provider of elementary facilities with a view to meet the expectations and perceptions of the guests. A closer look would, however, reveal that, underneath, if incorporates and entails a whole set, of complex factors and forces. Indeed, the operation and management of hotel industry can no longer be viewed as a simple isolated phenomenon. It has now come to involve a matrix of inter-related multi-dimensional process and issues involving new challenges as well as new opportunities. Moreover, hoteliers have been predicting many changes in the hotel industry by the turn of the century which also, significantly, marks the end of the millennium, calling for a serious thinking and concerted pro-active measures on the part of hotel managements to cope with new challenges and to generate as also avail of new opportunities.

The hospitality industry in many ways represents the country's growth and prosperity. The standard of accommodation and the quality and variety of food available in a destination is a significant component of the impression and image of that place in the mind of the traveller. Indians are becoming more exposed to the world and therefore are now demanding the finest luxuries even within their homeland. It is therefore of paramount importance that the hospitality industry keeps revamping and reinventing itself to ensure that neither the international nor the domestic traveller is disappointed. “The globalization of the hospitality industry has accelerated under the pressures of the advances in technology, communication, deregulation, elimination of political barriers, global developments as well as the growing competition in the global economy” (Teare and Olsen, 1999). The hospitality industry in 70

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India is too responding to these pressures and developments. It is rapidly maturing and pushing itself to meet the demands of the people most efficiently. The standard of service provided has significantly risen over the past five years. Add-ons to a room that were earlier considered as luxury have today become must-haves.

India, known the world over as the land of hospitality – is today in the defining stages of the business of hospitality and with unlimited tourism and untapped business prospects. In the coming years Indian hospitality will only see green pastures of growth. India is a very famous holiday destination in the world, and provides ample facilities as far as lodging is concerned. It has state of the art hotels to cater to its ever booming travel and tourism industry. Many hotels and resorts have popped up in India over the last few years to cater the accommodation needs of everybody. India is dotted with hotels that fit in every budget. There are hotels ranging from Luxury Hotels to Economy Hotels. A travel agent can help in finding a suitable accommodation. Hotels in India provide detailed overview of the various categories of hotels, and the important groups of hotels that play a major role in the field of tourism. Located in all major tourist and commercial destinations of India, the hotels are known for their warm hospitality and comfortable accommodation. A number of hotels in India are counted among some of the best hotels in the world. It is boom time for India's Tourism and Hospitality sector. A 5,000 year history, culture, religion and alternative medicine fascinate both budget and luxury travellers alike. Driven by a surge in business traveller arrivals and a soaring interest in India as a tourist destination, the year 2005 has been the best year till date, with foreign visitor arrivals reaching a record 3.92 million, resulting in international tourism receipts of USD 5.7 billion.

West Bengal is a developed and industrial state. It is the gateway to the eastern and the north-eastern states. It was the erstwhile British Capital. The state is well known for rice cultivation and agriculture which is the backbone of economy. Agriculture is the mainstay for about 70 percent of the population. West Bengal has a vast stretch of arable land which is 62.8 percent of the total area of 55,414 sq. km. The State has a total of 13.38 percent of forest area. The remaining area is utilized for other purposes. The State is comprised of 18 districts and Kolkata is the state capital and is one of the metropolitan cities in India. There are over 23 towns with a population of over 100,000. The largest cities are Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol, Durgapur and Siliguri. Other important towns include Darjeeling, Kharagpur and Haldia. Kolkata is amongst the largest metropolitan regions in the world. The state is bordered by the 71

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countries like Nepal and Bangladesh and the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, Assam, and Meghalaya in different directions. From north to south, it stretches from The Himalayan Mountain regions to the Gangetic plain and the Bay of Bengal. The land is mostly plain except the northern region that is dotted with the different Himalayan mountain peaks. On the basis of landforms, the state can be divided into the regions such as the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Terai region, the North Bengal plains, the Rarh region, the Coastal plain, the Sunderbans, theWestern plateau, the high lands and the Ganges delta.

West Bengal has a rich cultural heritage and a glorious past that dates back to 3rd century BC. The region was ruled by Mauryas, Guptas, Palas, the Muslims and finally the British. West Bengal is the birth place of many great personalities, philosophers, scientists, patriots, and it is also home to five Nobel laureates. The Red Soil of the state is famous for its rich colour to the terracotta temple of Bishnupur. Sunderban national park which is located in the the Gangetic Delta in the lower Bengal houses the Royal Bengal tigers. Kolkata city is endowed with the famous tourist destinations such as Birla Planetarium, Fort William, Botanical Garden, Zoological Garden, Eden Gardens, Nehru Children‟s Museum, Howrah Bridge, Victoria Memorial, Indian Museum, Nakhoda Mosque, St. Paul‟s Cathedral Church and Kali Mandir of Kalighat. Other places of tourist interest for excursions are Digha, Diamond Harbor, Haldia, Barrackpore, Chandernagore, Bandel, Sunderban Wildlife Sanctuary etc. The charming Rajera Hill Stations of Darjeeling and Kalimpong lies in the foothills of the Himalayas in the northern part. These are the amazing tourist paradises of the State. Darjeeling is one of the most wonderful hill resorts in the world with awe-inspiring beauty capped by the mighty Himalayas. Siliguri is the gateway of Darjeeling as it is an important transit point not only for visiting to Darjeeling hill region but also to the places in Sikkim and Assam in India and Bhutan and Eastern Nepal.

Historically, business activity in Kolkata was concentrated in Chowringhee, Esplanade, Dalhousie and Park Street where a large number of PSUs and corporate offices of older companies still exist. However, the past few years have seen rapid development along the city's eastern periphery in areas such as Salt Lake and Rajarhat. Kolkata is one of the few cities that have witnessed an increase in Rev PAR in 2011-12 and this is primarily due to negligible supply of 199 rooms entering the market and due to increasing demand from developing areas such as Rajarhat, Kolkata's new commercial and industrial district. Kolkata is currently tracking 3,118 rooms that are proposed to enter the market with 74% of them 72

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under active development. Like most other cities, the proposed supply is primarily in the upscale and mid market segments. Nonetheless, the extensive development pipeline in New Town, Rajarhat and the eastern part of Kolkata, and proximity to the airport, is expected to lead to the creation of a distinct micro-market that will generate its own room night demand and be self-sustaining, going forward. Kolkata therefore remains positive as it is anticipated that the city's hotels to maintain their occupancy levels and witness marginal decline in average rates owing to new supply impact in the short to medium term.

Objective

 To study the present status of hotel industry in Kolkata and its contribution in tourism development.

 To examine the level of quality of service offered by the hotels at Kolkata.

 To analyze the overall visitor satisfaction in terms by experience, facilities and activities.

Literature Review

The Hospitality industry, geographically dispersed in easily identifiable different sectors is one of the larger employers in most countries. The globalisation of the industry has accelerated under the pressures of the “advances in technology, communication and transportation, deregulation, elimination of political barriers as well as growing competition in the global economy (Clarke and Chen, 2007). The hotel product is primarily a mix of five characteristics: its location, its mix of facilities, its image, the services it provides and the price it charges (Holloway and Taylor, 2006).

The strong and sustained rise of Hospitality and Tourism industry over the past fifty years is one of the most remarkable phenomena of our time. This activity continues to grow steadily, In spite of some various factors such as climate change, which obviously affect the industry. With the substantial growth in the Hospitality and Tourism industry, this sector has become one of the world biggest industries. It's also the largest and fastest growing and dynamic economic sector (J. M Hamilton, David J. Madison and Richard, S. J. Tol (2003).

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Several hotels, both in the luxury and budget sector, opt to outsource their food and beverage operations. This trend it set to increase as already established brand become a more secure revenue option and also the hotel then avoids the cost of running a restaurant (Clarke and Chen, 2007). It has been accepted that a critical hindrance in the future development of the hotel catering sector is the shortage of food service specialists, who are able to propel the market forward, manage the food and beverage business efficiently and develop effective marketing techniques. In India while in the UK in 2005, approximately 4.1 billion pounds was spent on dining in hotels, out of the total eating out spend of 27.6 billion pounds (Clarke and Chen, 2007). Existing hotels are likely to profit from the enhanced performance of the non-room sources of income such as food and beverages and spa and club memberships.

With the demand far exceeding the supply, the government is allowing 100% foreign direct investment thus attracting a huge international attention. Lured by the 20-25% return on investment, even foreign banks such as Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs are investing in the hospitality sector. The Citigroup Property Investors has earmarked $350 million for such investments (Hotel Business Review, 2008). The UK based Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) plans to open 20 hotels in India with over 5000 rooms under its brand – Holiday Inn. (Hotel Business Review, 2008)

A conclusion can be drawn from these above literature review, that tourism and hotel is dependent to each other. This report has reviewed the literature and current trends for tourism, with a specific focus on tourism and hotel. That is why hotels are the main pillar of tourism.

Status Of Hotel Industry

Global Investments in hospitality Sector has shown an increasing trend over last few years. Asia is viewed as Top Global Prospect for Hospitality Investment. According to the Ernst & Young Hospitality Investment Survey, which surveyed more than 300 investors and industry executives worldwide, capitalization rates for hotel properties are expected to stabilize and possibly even increase over the short-to-mid-term in the US. Even with the dramatic shift in the debt markets over the last few months, hotel industry sector fundamentals continue to be strong.

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Within the travel and tourism sector, the Indian hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing and most important segments, revenue-wise as well as employment-wise. According to an estimate of the Economic Survey of India and Technopak, the Indian hotel industry accounts for USD 17 billion, 70% (USD 11.85 billion) of which take their origin from the unorganized sector and the remaining 30% (USD 5.08 billion) from the organized sector.

The growth story of the Indian hospitality industry started in the 1980s, when several prestigious hotels were developed to cater to the Asiad Games in New Delhi. Until about ten years ago, however, the hospitality industry in India continued to be characterised by its extremely limited choice of options. There was a very limited availability and lesser quality of hotels in cities beyond the usual suspects: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bangalore. Other aspiring hospitality markets have been gradually catching up, such as Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Goa, Hyderabad, and Pune.

The twentieth century can be called the turning point in the history of the hotel industry in India because it is in this century tourism activities started and year-by-year tourist traffic to India increased and many big business owners entered into the field. Earlier most of the hotels were aesthetically unkempt, unprofessionally managed, and unprofessionally maintained. In recent years, the hotels sector has grown at a faster rate than GDP. As a result, the share of hotels & restaurants in GDP at current prices has increased from 1.2per cent in FY2000 to 1.5per cent in FY2005. In constant (1999-2000) prices, the GDP from hotels and restaurants has increased from Rs. 222.65 billion in FY2000 to Rs. 335.49 billion in FY2005. As a result, the share of hotels and restaurants in total GDP at constant prices has increased from 1.24per cent in FY2000 to 1.40per cent in FY2005.

Table: No. of Different Types of Approved Hotels in India

Type of Hotel Number of Hotel

1 STAR 127

2 STAR 175

3 STAR 560

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4 STAR 77

5 STAR 69

5 STAR DELUX 71

Source: HRACC (as on April 2012)

West Bengal houses some of the best hotels of the country to accommodate the guests. The number of health resorts and restaurants are also rising in the tourists spots of the state in order to facilitate the tourists. As per the India Tourism Statistics, 2009 released by the Ministry of Tourism Government of India, West Bengal has thirty nine approved hotels with 2796 rooms. However, there has been a multiplying investment in hotel infrastructure and the number is set to increase significantly over the next 2-3 years. In addition to the above, Tourism Lodges are maintained by the West Bengal Tourism Development Ltd at all important areas. There are 10-12 luxury hotels coming up in the city with 2,400-odd rooms, most of which will be operational soon. Several star-category hotels are also coming up at important industrial towns like Durgapur and Siliguri. Ginger has opened its first hotel in Durgapur.

Kolkata knows exactly how to cater to the taste of everyone – artist, intellectual, history enthusiasts, avid shoppers, epicureans and sports lovers! The Howrah Bridge, Victoria Memorial, Science city, Shantiniketan, Eden Gardens are some of the popular emblems wonderfully indicating the unparallel capacity of the city to meet any expectation which makes it truly' the city of joy'. Some of the colonial buildings were used for official purposes, while others served as residences of British officers. Some of the Victorian looking buildings that dot the cityscape interestingly belonged to aristocrats of Kolkata who were inspired by colonial architectural styles while designing their own residences. The heritage hotels in Kolkata are replete with colonial influences. Since the reforms in the Indian economy and the boom in the IT sector, there has been a visible change in the hospitality industry with the younger generation taking over. The hotels in modern day Kolkata include some of the major names in the hospitality industry such as the Taj Group, Oberoi Group, Hyatt group and so on. The hotels in Kolkata are increasingly finding pride of place among the best hotels in the

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country. Out of the total premium category hotel rooms coming up in the top 10 cities in the country in the next three years, about eight per cent will be in Kolkata, a study has said.

Currently, there are around 25 to 26 hotels in various categories operating in Kolkata. In the premium category, there are around 1,476 rooms. Total number of rooms is expected to be 2,465 by 2011. Of them maximum number of 1,200 rooms will come up in the mid-market hotels. This is followed by First Class Segment, which will add total rooms of 700. In the budget segment, however, only 240 rooms will be added, a study done by Noopur Agarwal of Asia Real Estate Practice at Northbridge Capital said. Hotels chains like Intercontinental Group, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Hilton Group, Peerless Group, Sarovar Hotels, as well as DLF in joint venture with Dubai-based Emaar Group are setting up five-star and five-star deluxe properties in the city. Hotels like Grand Great Eastern Hotel as well as MBD Airport Hotel are currently under renovation and are expected to add to the upcoming supply of rooms.

Methodology

The present research work is designed through scientific methods to ensure maximum accuracy in the results. Utmost care has been laid on the selection of methods, procedures for data collection and appropriate statistical tools to enrich the quality of the study. In this study, tourists both domestic and international have been surveyed on their level of perceptions and satisfactions on various factors of tourism resources, destination image, product offering, destination competitiveness and level of satisfaction. The data thus collected was subjected to validity tests. After ascertaining of the validity, the data have been analyzed to ascertain the findings pertaining to the tourism resources and the analysis of data help the researcher to draw suitable conclusions.

Nationality

Nationality Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Indian 63 68.5 68.5 68.5

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Foreigner 29 31.5 31.5 100.0

Total 92 100.0 100.0

Respondents are classified into foreign and domestic tourists. The frequency and percentage of respondents of foreign and domestic tourists is presented in the above table. It shows 63 domestic and 29 foreign tourists who were the sample population for the purpose of the analysis. Domestic tourists are 68.5 percent and foreign tourists are 31.5 percent respectively. It is evident from the secondary data that the sample size of domestic tourists is more than the foreign tourists because the arrivals of domestic tourists to the state are far more than the foreign tourists. The ratio between foreign and domestic tourists is very wide in West Bengal. The diagram represents the nationality of the respondents in bar graph & frequency curve.

Duration of Stay

No. of Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Day

1 – 3 46 50.0 50.0 50.0

4 – 6 33 35.9 35.9 85.9

7 – 10 12 13.0 13.0 98.9

10 + 1 1.1 1.1 100.0

Total 92 100.0 100.0

Duration of stay is one of the important variables to explain about the interest, motivation, budget, etc of the tourists for visiting and spending holidays in the destinations. Respondents who visited West Bengal were classified into four categories on the basis of the total duration of stay. The duration of stay and its frequency and percentage of respondents are given in the above table. A total of 50.0 percent of respondents stayed at Kolkata between 1-3 days. 35.9 percent respondents stayed in Kolkata between 4 -6 days. Only 13.0% people 78

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are staying at Kolkata for 7-10 days and a very few people (1.1%) are staying at Kolkata for more than 10 days. The duration of stay is presented in the diagram below. The data in the table shows majority of them sojourned a maximum of 3 days. The duration of stay is presented in the diagram below.

Spending Pattern

INR Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative Percent Percent

<20,000 23 25.0 25.0 25.0

20,000 - 45 48.9 48.9 73.9 30,000

30,000 – 22 23.9 23.9 97.8 50,000

>50,000 2 2.2 2.2 100.0

Total 92 100.0 100.0

The study has included the data collected on average spending of tourists while staying at Kolkata excluding the amount spent for transportation to reach Kolkata. It is revealed from table that respondents having a budget up to Rs.30,000 or less represent 73.9 percent and the cumulative percentage of 97.8 percent of respondents spent less than Rs.50,000. Only 2.2 percent respondents spend more than Rs 50,000.

Purpose of visit

Purpose Frequency Percent Valid Cumulative Percent Percent

Leisure 25 27.2 27.2 27.2

Business 27 29.3 29.3 56.5

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Study 6 6.5 6.5 63.0

MICE 18 19.6 19.6 82.6

Transit 4 4.3 4.3 87.0

Visit 7 7.6 7.6 94.6 Friends/Rel atives

Cultural 5 5.4 5.4 100.0

Total 92 100.0 100.0

Above table presents the purpose for which the respondents visiting Kolkata. The data show that 29.3 percent respondents are visiting Kolkata for Business purpose where as 27.2 percent respondents are visiting for leisure activities. 19.6 percent respondents visiting Kolkata for MICE and 7.6 percent are visiting friends and relatives. The remaining 5.4 percent of respondents inclined for cultural activities and 4.3 percent visitors are transit visitors.

Attribute that Attracted to Kolkata

Variable Mean Median Standard Deviation

History & Culture .5543 1.0000 .49976

Food .6739 1.0000 .47135

Safety .0543 .0000 .22794

Entertainment .1522 .0000 .36116

Attitude of local .4565 .0000 .50084 people

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Variable Mean Median Standard Deviation

Shopping .1304 .0000 .33863

Quality of .2826 .0000 .45273 accommodation

Quality of .1087 .0000 .31296 environment

Cost of tour .4674 .0000 .50167

Reason to choose 3.9674 5.0000 1.84838 destination

Primary decision 2.4565 2.0000 1.53647 maker

New tourism is a phenomenon of large-scale packaging of non-standardized leisure services at competitive prices to suit the demands of tourists as well as the economic and socio-environmental needs of destinations. Destinations must be in tune with this changing demand for tourism as consumers become more experienced, informed and discerning. It is necessary for each destination to identify the major attributes it posses so that those attributes can be promoted effectively to attract the visitors. In the present study the researcher identified the key attributes of Kolkata that can attract the visitors. The attributes identified are History & Culture, Food, Safety, Attitude of local people, Shopping, Quality of accommodation, Quality of environment and Cost of tour.

Reason to choose destination

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent

Budget 10 10.9 10.9 10.9

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Local History 24 26.1 26.1 37.0 & Culture

Friends & 8 8.7 8.7 45.7 Relatives

Business 25 27.2 27.2 72.8 Opportunity

Others 25 27.2 27.2 100.0

Total 92 100.0 100.0

Behind every visit by the visitors there are motivation factors. This attribute reason to choose destination is the motivation factor to visit Kolkata. There are different factors among them 27.2 percent people visit Kolkata for business opportunity, 26.1 percent people choose Kolkata for local history & culture, 10.9 percent people visit for budget and 8.7 percent respondents visit for to meet friends & relatives. There are 27.2 percent of respondents choose Kolkata for other different reason.

H0: Overall satisfaction of tourist visiting Kolkata is independent of travel experience, leisure facilities and activates.

H1: Overall satisfaction of tourist visiting Kolkata is dependent of travel experience, leisure facilities and activates.

Regression

Table 5.50: Variables Entered/Removed

Model Variables Entered Variables Removed Method

1 Your experience with leisure facilities and activities; . Enter Your recent travel experience in Kolkata;

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a All requested variables entered. b Dependent Variable: How much satisfied are you with this trip in relation with your purpose of visit

Table 5.51: Model Summary

Std. Error of the Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Estimate

1 .835 .697 .690 .46891 a Predictors: (Constant), Your experience with leisure facilities and activities, Your recent travel experience in Kolkata

Table 5.52: ANOVA

Sum of Mean Model df F Sig. Squares Square

1 Regression 44.985 2 22.493 102.297 .000

Residual 19.569 89 .220

Total 64.554 91 a Predictors: (Constant), Your experience with leisure facilities and activities , Your recent travel experience in Kolkata b Dependent Variable: How much satisfied are you with this trip in relation with your purpose of visit

Conclusions And Recommendations

The travel and tourism industry world-wide is growing at a very fast rate. It has been predicted that, tourism industry will be' the world's largest single industry. Accommodation industry is the most important segment of tourism industry. Over

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ninety per cent of the foreign tourists and between seventy and eighty per cent of the domestic tourists depend on hotels for their accommodation.

There is tremendous scope for the accelerated growth of tourism in West Bengal. When tourism is looked upon as an economic activity capable of earning the much needed foreign exchange, it is essential to promote tourism in our state. High spending tourists, by virtue of their status and standard of living, will maintain a discipline which will help in preserving our environment, tradition and culture, contrary to the arguments of the critics of tourism. Before such tourists are brought here, it is primarily essential to ensure their comfortable stay and sojourn Adequate accommodation must be made available in the type of hotels they demand the study on the present status of hotel industry in Kolkata reveals the following:

1. An unhappy experience in their sojourn, especially of the foreign tourists will reflect adversely in the future tourist arrivals. Hence it is highly important that hotels of the standard expected by the tourists, in adequate number are provided at Kolkata.

2. In order to attract the increasing number of high-spending foreign tourists to Kolkata and to ensure their prolonged stay, adequate growth in suitable hotels should take place.

3. The profile of the tourists revealed that the majority of them are visiting Kolkata out of their own curiosity. Again most of them especially the foreign tourists are travelling alone on independent tours. From these facts it can be inferred that Kolkata has not been adequately marketed as a tourist destination and package tour to Kolkata has not been sufficiently popularised. The international tour operators and local agents are reluctant to bring tourists to Kolkata on package tour mainly due to the paucity of appropriate hotel accommodation facilities.

4. The majority of the tourists are attracted to Kolkata by her rich heritage and they prefer to stay for a maximum period of 3 days.

A good majority of the foreign tourists prefer to stay in the three star and higher categories of hotels and the domestic tourists in two star and lower categories. Both the

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foreign and domestic tourists were of the opinion that they were not getting prompt services from hotels.

Tourist guidance facilities, tourist information centres, transport facilities and various facilities in a hotel remain much below the average satisfaction of the tourists. Considering the demand and supply of the various hotel facilities it is understood that all the facilities demanded by a majority of the tourists are not available even in the top category of hotels. The multiplicity of products, the perishable nature of the products, the shortage of skilled personnel, the short duration of the cycle of operation, the inadequate marketing, the non- popularisation of package tour to Kolkata, the sensitivity of the industry to external factors and the excessive tax burden are some of the major problems faced by the hotel industry in Kolkata. All these problems of the hotel industry are associated with the special nature of the industry. For the desired growth of the industry to promote tourism, it is essential that the government should extend a helping hand. Association with international hotel chains and organisations will help in the aggressive marketing of tourism with technological thrust and forcefulness.

Duration of stay at the destination, detail arrangements made for the trip, source from which the information about the destination obtained and the mode of transport used by the visitor to reach the destination are considered as the key element for the success of any destination. The awareness about the destination and selection of destination by the tourist is influenced by the type of information available and the type of travel services available.

Based on the findings summarised above, the following recommendations are made to improve the present situation of the hotel industry in Kolkata :

i. Joint venture agreements are to be made with the world's well known international hotel chains to start big hotel projects here so that effective marketing of Kolkata will be undertaken by them.

ii. While constructing new hotels some more hotels are to be located close to the air ports in Kolkata.

iii. Steps should be taken to avoid the delay experienced by tourists in getting prompt services from hotel employees.

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iv. Co-ordination and co-operation in the functioning of the various departments of the government will help in supporting the entrepreneur in the various steps he takes in the promotion and running of a good hotel.

v. The government that has a stake in tourism infrastructure should provide hotel sites at specially reduced rates to entrepreneurs.

vi. Subsidy on the loan for construction of hotels should be made available to the entrepreneurs irrespective of the political clout they have.

vii. Water and electricity should be made available at industrial rates.

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Research, Vol. 4. pg 1-15.

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Heinemann. Pandey Suruchi, Ph. D Thesis, submitted to TMV

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2. http://www.businesstravellerindia.com/200509/miceshowcase01.shtml seen on 18th

July, 2008.

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ROLE OF SELF-HELP GROUPS IN WOMEN EMPOWERMENT: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SHIVAMOGGA DISTRICT

Mr. Duragappa Research Scholar, Department of Commerce, Kuvempu University, India

Dr. Akash. S.B. Associate Professor, Department of Commerce, Rani Channamma University, India ======ABSTRACT

The level of economic equality and independence are the real indicator to measure the status of women. Akash S.B, & H.Y. Kamble (2006) observed that in India, the general economic situation is far from satisfactory, the situation of women being worst than that of men in respect of education, nutrition, freedom, health, life expectation, wage earning and political participation. In view of this govt. of India had launched different programmes for uplift the social and economic status of women. Among different programmes, the recent programmes is the self help group bank linkage p r o g r ammes which was launched and managed by NABARD, to allows SHG to obtain loan from bank like commercial, rural, and cooperative banks. Anitha and Revenkar (2007) rightly pointed out that the success of SHGs not only improved the economic status of women, but also brought lot of changes in their social status. With this back drop the study assumed great importance to study the plight of role of self -help groups in empowerment of women. The information required for the study has been collected from both the primary and secondary sources. In this study, proportionate random sampling technique has been used to collect the primary data and selected 30 SHGs with 200 members in the Shivamogga District. From each group, members have been selected under lottery method in order to get accurate information about the group. For analyzing the collected data, the study used tools like percentage, tabulation method.

Key words: Self Help Groups, micro finance, women empowerment, NABARD

Introduction

The first Prime Minister of Independent India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, has rightly said that, "the women of India should play a vital role in building strong nation" (Sankaran, 2004).Further, the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi has said, "the development of every village is nothing but the development of nation" (Bhatia et al., 2002). It is a well-known fact that the growth of women in turn develops her family, village and the nation in general. Since women constitute 48.15% of total population of India as per census 2001, it is very essential to employ this resource optimally in the interest of the nation in general and her family in particular. In the past, women were not ready to undertake any work, job and business due to shyness, fear and male dominance in the society. Moreover women in bright flowing saris can be seen working everywhere on construction sites with bricks on their heads, chipping rocks along the highways, making flower garlands in markets, sweeping floors in temples, herding cattle and gathering firewood in the country side. There is a constant movement of the almost 150 million women who make up 33 per cent of the total labour force, according to data from the 61" Round of the National Sample Survey for 2004- 2005 (Sundaram, 2007). However, the self-help groups in India have been recognized as an effective strategy for the empowerment of rural as well as urban women and bring women together from all spheres of life to fight for their rights or cause. Since development of women is crucially depends on economic empowerment, this is possible through active participation of self-help groups members in economic activities such as poultry forming, tailoring, flower making, bee-keeping, nursery, petty business, sericulture, fishery and so on (Akash S.B & H.Y. Kamble, 2006). As a result self help groups members of today want more economic independence, their own identity, achievements, equal status in the society and greater freedom. Further, many study have proved that they are more productive than men in contributing to the growth of the economy. Just as we need two hands for the smooth functioning of human work, similarly, both men and women should involve in productive activities to build a strong nation.

Concept of SHG

The concept of SHG is the brainchild of Grameen Bank of Bangaladesh, which was founded by Professor Mohammed Yunus of Chittagong University in the year 1975. The term self-help group refers help amongst our-selves. In other words SHG serves to under-take the principle of for the people by the people and the people, of the people. The self-groups are homogenous gathering of people who join on a voluntary basis to under-take the economic activities. The SHG constitutes with a predetermine set of objectives with a common goal and faith and affection towards each other, come together and form a group. Such group shall have effective leaders: in the form of president, secretary and treasurer. The SHG shall have its own set of rules should operate on the strength of the same but as a guiding factor refers to the following set of rules. All the members will become the presidents one by one by turns. Remember all the position held are of honorary nature and in no circumstances any remuneration or honorarium is payable to such a position holders. However, at the end of 2004, 10,79,091 SHG working in India and obtained Rs. 3,90,220 million loan from banks under a programme of National Bank of Agriculture and Rural Development. And around 16,18,600 families assisted and average loan per self- help groups Rs 36180 and average loan per family Rs. 2412.

Concept of Women Empowerment

According to the International Encyclopaedia (1999), power means having the capacity and the means to direct one's life towards desired social, political and economic goals or status. Therefore, women empowerment means giving the capacity and means to direct women's life towards desired goals. In total Empowerment is a process by which women gain greater control over resources (income, knowledge, information, technology, skill and training), challenge the ideology of patriarchy and participate in leadership, decision making process, enhance the self-image of women, to become active participants the process of development.

Development of Self Help Groups in Shivamogga District

Self Help Groups are established in the 2000-01. Karnataka State has got 175 taluk areas these Self Help Groups has been established in all the taluks. The main aim of the Self Help Groups is to uplift the women who are in the rural and backward areas and the works for the 92

development of women entrepreneurs which further helps in increasing the income of women in rural areas and its going to save huge amount of money and it also help in increasing the standard of living of the people living in the rural areas is the main intention was to establish 6842 Self Help Groups in the year 2010-11 in 7 taluk areas like Bhadravathi, Hosanagara, Sagara, Shikaripura, Shivamogga, Sorabha, Thirthahalli and has been achieved by government of Karnataka and in the year 2010-11. They wanted to establish 460 Self Help Groups in these areas.

Statement of the Problem

The socio-economic advancement of a particular country can be best judged on the basis of the status and position, which it can b e s t o w its women. So the level of economic equality and independence are the real indicator to measure the status of women. The SHG approach has proved that not only successful in improving the economic conditions through income generation but also in creating awareness about health and hygiene, sanitation and cleanliness, environmental protection, importance of education, etc. Moreover Women‟s participation in SHGs enabled them to discover inner strength, gain self confidence, social, economical, political and psychological empowerment and capacity building within families and the community as a whole. However at present SHGs members face several problems like lack of education. lack of self confidence, lack of independence, lack of family support, lack of social security , lack of financial resources, Gender discrimination , lack of good management, lack of training and motivation programmes and there is no well family support to the women etc. Hence, the study assumed great importance to study on impact of self-help groups in women empowerment with special reference to Shivamogga district of Karnataka state.

Significance of the Study

The self-help groups in India have been recognized as an effective strategy for the empowerment of rural as well as urban women and bring women together from all spheres of life to fight for their rights or cause. Since development of women is crucially depends on economic empowerment, this is possible through active participation of women in economic activities. The India is rich country inhabited by poor people and land of villages. The development of villages is must. If villages get

developed country will automatically get developed. However, self-help group is needed for different reasons such as to improve the standard of living of women, creation of employment in rural area, to develop economic condition of poor people, build up self confidence among rural as well as urban women, creating financial stability among them, thereby achieving eradication of poverty, create new generation of women and to work together equally with men, etc.

Objectives of the Study

The main objectives of the study are to critically analyze the role of se-help group in women empowerment and this study also examined relevance of self-helps in improving the overall status of women and difficulties of self-help groups. And the study also provides possible suggestion in the light of the findings of the study to ensure effective function of self-help groups.

Sample Design

The study have been covered the women self-help groups members in Shivamogga District. Detailed study of the all women SHGs members is difficult and time consuming. In view of this and keep the inquiry within manageable but reliable limits, the simple random sampling method is adopted and sample of 200 women SHGs members were selected from 30 SHG for in-depth study.

Tool and Techniques

In order to analyzing the data systematically and draw the conclusions meaningfully statistical tool like percentage, tabular method, as follows to examine role of self -help group in women empowerment with special reference Shivamogga district.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study is confined to only Shivamogga District and the findings are based on the data collected from 200 respondents from 30 SHGs, Hence the accuracy of the conclusion drawn are subject to the accuracy of the information given by the respondents and cannot be generalized.

Analysis and Interpretation of Data

Table-1 Reveals the Age – Wise Classification of the Respondents.

Age(in years) No. of respondents Percentage

Below 18 - -

19-25 50 25

26-30 30 15

31-35 60 30

36-45 40 20

46-55 20 10

55 and Above - -

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that among 200 respondents 25 % of sample of the respondents to the age group of 19-25 years, 15% of the sample of the respondents to the age group of 26- 30 years, 30 % sample of the respondents to the age group of 31-35 years and 20% sample of the respondents to the age group of 36-45 years and 10% sample of the respondents to the age group of 46-55 years. From above explanation it is clear that adult women who joined SHGs in the study area are more in number as compared to younger and older age group.

Table -2 Reveals the Marital Status of Respondents

Marital Status No. of respondents Percentage

Single 30 15

Married 110 55

Unmarried 10 5

Widow 40 20

Divorce 10 5

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that 15 % of the respondents were single, 55 % of the respondents are married and 5 % of the respondents are unmarried and 20% of the respondents are widow and remaining 5 % of the respondents are divorce. From above explanation it is clear that married women are more in number as compared to other marital status of the respondents, because they think that marriage is significant impact on social security in the present system.

Table: 3 Reveals the Education Level of Respondents Before Joining SHG

Level of Education No. of respondents Percentage

Illiterate 4 2

Literate 36 18

Primary 64 32

Middle Class 56 28

High School 30 15

any other (specify)(1) 10 5

Total 200 100

Note: any other (specify) (1) include PUC, Diploma and ITI

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that educational level of the respondents. 2 % sample of the respondents illiterate, 18 % sample of the respondents literate, 32% sample of the 96

respondents educated up to primary level, 28% of the sample of the respondents educated up to middle class level, 15% of the sample of the respondents educated up to high school level,5% of the sample of respondents educated up to other category like PUC, Diploma and ITI. From above explanation it is clear that majority of SHGs members educated up to primary level due high degree of poverty, lack of motivation, co-operation from family members, lack of decision making power etc.

Table-4 Reveals the Family – System Wise Classification of the Respondents.

Types of Family No. of respondents Percentage

Nuclear 120 90

Joint 20 10

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that 90 % of sample of the respondents have Nuclear family system and 10 % of sample of the respondents have joint family system. . From above explanation it is clear that joint family system has been losing its importance even in rural areas due to changing socio cultural system. The joint family system is the system that protects everyone in the family, irrespective of their age and income. However, due to change in the family system, the future of elderly people seems uncertain.

Table- 5 Reveals Problems of the Respondents before joining of SHGs

Problems No. of respondents Percentage

Lack of literacy 28 14

Lack of self-confidence 8 4

Lack of courage 16 8

Non co-operation from 38 19

husbands//parents

Lack of Bank support 36 18

Lack of financial support 26 13

Lack of training 20 10

Lack of motivation 28 14

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 14 % of sample of the respondents have lack of literacy problem , 4 % of sample of the respondents have lack of self-confidence problem, 8 % of sample of the respondents have lack of courage problem , 19 % of sample of the respondents have non co-operation from husband/parents problem, 18% of sample of the respondents have lack of bank support problem, 13 % of sample of the respondents have lack of financial support problem , 10 % of sample of the respondents have lack of training problem and 14 % of sample of the respondents have lack of motivation problem before joining of SHGs, From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents have non co-operation from husband/parents problem due to patriarchal system in the present social system.

Table-6 Reveals the Reason for Joining of the Respondents.

Reasons No. of respondents Percentage

Getting loan 84 42

Promoting savings 46 23

Increases Social status 16 8

Economic independence 42 21

any other (Specify) 12 6

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that 42 % of sample of the respondents to the reasons for joined SHGs for getting loan, 23% of sample of the respondents to the reasons for joined SHGs for promote savings, 8% of sample of the respondents to the reasons for joined SHGs for social status , 21% of sample of the respondents to the reasons for joined SHGs for economic independence and the 6 % of sample of respondents to the reasons for joined SHGs for other reasons like to meet emergencies, to meet agricultural expenses etc., . From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents have joined SHGs mainly to get loan due to no collateral security other than savings of SHGs, easy procedure for borrowing loans, adjustable repayment period etc.

Table-7 reveals the Annual income of the Respondents after Joining of SHG

Annual income No. of respondents Percentage

Below 50,000 30 15

50,001-1, 00,000 45 22.5

1, 00,001-1,50,000 80 40

1, 50,001-2, 00,000 40 20

2, 00,001 & Above 5 2.5

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that 15 % of sample of the respondents to annual income below 50,000 and, 22.5% of sample of respondents to the annual income 50,001-1,00,000 and 40% of sample of respondents to the annual income 1,00,001-1,50,000 and 20 % of sample of respondents to the annual income 1,50,001-2,00,000 and 2.5 % of sample of respondents to the annual income 2,00,001-1,50,000 . From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents have 1,50,001 – 2,00,000 due various economic activities

undertaking by SHGs members like sericulture, bee- keeping, tailoring, flowering, animal husbandry, dairy farming etc.

Table-8 Reveals the Monthly expenditure of the Respondents after Joining of SHG

Levels of Monthly No. of respondents Percentage Expenditure

Less than 1,000 28 14

1,001-2,000 56 28

2,001-3,000 74 37

3,001-4,000 24 12

4,001 & Above 18 9

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From the above table it is clear that14 % of sample of the respondents to the monthly expenditure less than 1000 and 28 % of sample of the respondents to the monthly expenditure 1.001-2000 and 37 % of sample of the respondents to the monthly expenditure 2,001-3000 and 12% of sample of the respondents to the monthly expenditure 3,001-4000 and remaining 18% of sample of the respondents to the monthly expenditure is 4,001 & above. From above explanation it is clear that the members of SHGs increases there expenditure due to high cost of living with low purchasing power both urban as well as rural areas.

Table- 9 Reveals the Purpose of Spending Income of the Respondents.

Purpose No. of respondents Percentage

Food 40 20

Rent & housing costs 20 10

utility bills 7 3.5

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loan repayment 55 27.5

livelihood related expenses 10 5

Health care expanses 12 6

Savings 50 25

Entertainment 6 3

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 20 % of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for food, 10% of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for Rent & housing costs, 3.5%of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for utility bills , 27.5% of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for loan repayment, 5% of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for livelihood related expenses, 6% of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for health expanses, 25 % of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for savings and 3% of sample of the respondents to purpose of spending income for entertainment. From above explanation it is clear that major portion of income spending for loan repayment purposes.

Table- 10 Reveals the Monthly Savings of the Respondents after Joining SHG

Levels of Monthly No. of respondents Percentage Savings

Below 1,000 - -

1,001-1,500 14 7

1,501-2,000 38 19

2,001-3,000 78 39

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3,001 & Above 70 35

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 7 % of sample of the respondents to monthly saving 1001- 1,500 , 19 % of sample of the respondents to monthly saving is 1,501-2,000 , 39% of sample of the respondents to monthly saving is 2,001-3,000 and 35 % of sample of the respondents to monthly saving is 3,001 and above. From above explanation it is clear that major portion of monthly savings between 2,001 – 3,000 due to awareness about savings in present circumstances.

Table 11 Amount of Loan to be Taken by Respondents After Joining SHGs

Amount of loan No. of respondents Percentage

less than 10,000 8 4

10,000-50,000 68 34

50,000-1, 00,000 74 37

1, 00,000-2, 00,000 35 17.5

above 2,00,000 15 7.5

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 4 % of sample of the respondents to amount of loan is less than 10,000 , 34 % of sample of the respondents to amount of loan is10,000 - 50,000 , 37 % of sample of the respondents to amount of loan is 50,000-1,00,000, 17.5% of sample of the respondents to amount of loan is 1,00,001-2,00,000 and 7.5 % o of sample of the respondents to amount of loan is above 2,00,000. From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents taken loan more than 50,000 due to proper training, motivation, education by banks and support from husband and family members.

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Table – 12 Reveals of Opinion about Repayment Loan of Respondents after Joining SHGs

Repayment schedule No. of Respondents Percentage

in advance 30 15

on time 160 80

Late 10 5

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 15 % of sample of the respondents to repaid of loan in advance, 80% of sample of the respondents to repay of loan on time and 5 % of sample of the respondents to repay of loan late. From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents are more prompt in repayment of loan as and when loan borrowed from SHGs.

Table-13 Reveals the Purpose of Getting Loan by Respondents.

Purpose of loan No. of respondents Percentage

personal 10 5

Agriculture 20 10

Poultry activities 15 7.5

Dairy activities 22 11

Home construction 10 5

Festivals 5 2.5

Payment of Old loan 36 18

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Animal husbandry 12 6

Income generating activities 28 14

To meet emergency 20 10

Hospital & medicine 12 6

Business 10 5

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 5 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for personal use, 10 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for agriculture use, 7.5 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for pouty activities,11 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for dairy activities, 5 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for home construction , 2.5 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for festivals, 18 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for payment of old loan,6 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for animal husbandry, 14 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for income generating activities, 10 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for meeting emergency, 6% of sample of the respondents have taken loan for hospital and medicine and 5 % of sample of the respondents have taken loan for business. From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents taken loan for repayment of old loan in turn they get more and more loan for taking income generating activities, to start new business like poultry activities, dairy activities etc., both rural area and urban area.

Table- 14 Opinion of Increases Socio-economic status of SHG members

Factors No. of respondents Percentage

Improvement in courage 15 7.5

Improvement in Self confidence 23 11.5

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Awareness on children education 19 9.5

Better decision making 15 7.5

Access to credit sources 40 20

Increases Family income 20 10

Increases Individual income 28 14

Family planning awareness 12 6

Awareness on Micro enterprises 28 14

Total 200 100

Source: field survey

From above table it is clear that 7.5 % of sample of the respondents opinion that improvement in literacy level, 11.5 % of sample of the respondents opinion that improvement in self-confidence, 9.5 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases the awareness on children education , 7.5 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases better decision making , 20 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases the access of credit sources 10 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases family income, 14 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases individual income 6 % of sample of the respondents opinion that increases the awareness on family income and 14% of sample of the respondents opinion that increases the awareness on micro enterprises. From above explanation it is clear that majority of respondents‟ opinion that increases access of credit source from bank, N.G.O. relatives, friends etc.

Findings:

The main findings of the study are:

1. 30% of sample of the respondents are in the age group between 31-35 years. 2. 55 % of sample of the respondents are married. 3. 32% of sample of the respondents are educational background is primary level. 4. 90% of sample of the respondents are individual family system.

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5. 42% of sample of the respondents have joined SHGs for getting loan. 6. 19 % of sample of the respondents incurred non co- operation from husband/parents before joining of SHGs. 7. 40% of sample of the respondents have annual income between Rs 1,50,000-2,00,000 after joining of SHGs 8. 37% of sample of the respondents have monthly expenditure of Rs 2,001-3000. 9. 27.5% of sample of the respondents spending income for loan repayment. 10. 39% of sample of the respondents have monthly savings of Rs 2001-3000 after joining of SHGs 11. 37% of sample of the respondents have loan taken of Rs 50,000-1, 00,000. 12. Majority of sample of the respondents‟ repayment of loan on time. 13. 18% of sample of the respondents getting loan from SHGs due to payment of old loan. 14. 20% of sample of the respondents‟ opinion that increases the accessibility of credit sources.

Suggestions:

1. SHG should always maintain transparency in every activity it may help to meet the objective of the group 2. The SHG always consult other members before taking policy decisions because more than one mind is better than single mind moreover it helping to understand each other and it facilitates smooth running of group activities. 3. The self-help group should properly repayment of loan is must it helps to bank as well as self-help groups to under-take further economic actives. 4. Knowledge and awareness is the powerful tool; which give the women a séance of power and freedom. Hence the women should try to aware of the policies and programmes. 5. Timely release of loan to the self-helps groups it helps to undertake productive actives with full of confidence 6. Most of the SHG members were illiterate and they have lack of adequate knowledge about opportunity of SHG and inadequate knowledge to undertake productive activities. Hence the member of SHG required adequate training to undertake productive activities in their interested area.

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7. Most of the member of SHG felt that due to non-availability of proper market for sale of goods they are not capable to earn adequate return on investment. Hence Government should set-up SHG market in prominent place for sale of SHG product.

References:

1. Akash S.B. & H. Y. Kamble (2007), Impacts of Self-Help Groups Women Empowerment: With Special Reference to Karnataka State, Globalisation & WTO, pp. 570-571 2. Anitha. S.H. &Ashok D. Revankar (2007), Micro – credit through self help groups for rural development, Southern Economist, August, Vol 46, No8, pp 17-19. 3. Sharma, K.C., Micro Financing Through SHG's, Indian Journal Of Agricultural Economic, Vol. 56 (3), July-Sept., 2001. 4. Naggayya, D., Micro-Finance for Self Help Groups, Kurukshetra, August, 2000. 5. World Bank 2001, World Development Report 2001, Attracting Poverty: oxford University Press. 6. www.nabard.org.

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