Womens attitude towards Microwave oven

Introduction

Consumer behavior refers to all of the behaviors that consumers display in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of product and services that they expect will satisfy their needs. To better meet the needs of specific groups of consumers, most marketers adopted a policy of market segmentation, which called for the division of their total potential markets into smaller, homogeneous segments for which they could design specific products and/or promotional campaigns.  The product microwave, about which we are trying to find out the behavior of consumers, are specially designed for consumers who have less time to prepare their food.  There are many traditional ways to heat, defrost and cook food, but now the concept of using microwave has also become popular. The main benefit of microwave oven is to cook anything within very short time. As our life style is getting busier day by day, we are changing our attitude towards cooking. Working women don’t want to spend much time for cooking. Mostly, this happens in the case of career oriented young generation. Few brands of microwave oven are available in Bangladesh. Every woman has their own belief and attitude towards those different brands of microwave oven. In this project our aim is to find out what are the attitudes of women of Bangladesh about microwave oven.

Objectives of the term paper

• To get a clear idea about the consumer behavior regarding a product or service.
• Applying the concepts of different attitude models.
• Learning the attitude of women towards different brands of microwave oven.
• Attitudes research is used to determine the consumers’ opinion towards microwave oven.

Scope of the Study

The scope of the study was limited to uncover the full image of Microwave oven to the customers’ mind. To identifying different aspects that are considered as the elements of consumer buying behavior like brand loyalty, consumer beliefs and consumer willingness to search for the particular product; identifying some information related to microwave oven, like the electricity consumption, required training, frequency of micro wave oven use and finally the overall attitudes toward the product.

Limitations of the study

• Lack of appropriate response from the respondents of questionnaire, here in our project the respondents are women.
• The text book is applicable for international consumer behavior, so it was bit confusing to apply the concepts in Bangladeshi consumers’ point of view.
• Unavailability of information in website and other sources regarding the product, which is microwave oven.
• Though we have tried to take appropriate samples but in some situations a little bit of convenient sampling were done. The sample size was 75 but the sample size is sometimes not taken randomly. We sometimes preferred our relatives, neighbors and friends as our respondents.

Research Methodology

The research is based on secondary and primary information. A questionnaire was designed with the help of the faculty to gather the primary information by interviewing a sample size of 75 people. Before undertaking a full-scale study, we have conducted a small-scale exploratory survey to identify the critical issues to include in the questionnaire. To ensure the validity of the questionnaire, it was first pre-tested and debugged before conducting the survey.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

Market segmentation can be defined as the process of dividing a potential market into distinct subsets of consumers with common needs or characteristics and selecting one or more segments with a distinct marketing mix. For Micro wave oven, Segmentation provides the opportunity to expand a market by better satisfying the specific needs or wishes of a particular segment of the consumers. Segmentation also identifies and differentiates the actual social class people from the society.

For that purpose the following segmentation can be carried out:

A. Geographic Segmentation

In geographic segmentation, the market is divided by locations with the belief that people living in the same area have similar needs and wants and that these needs and wants are different from those of people living in other areas. For tracking the potential consumers of microwave oven, geographic segmentation should be the first step to identify the broad spectrum of the market.

Most of our respondents are living in different accommodation depending on their ability. Most of the upper class or high income group people live in their own house and or living in their own apartments. Majority middle class people are living in the rented house or apartments.

B. Demographic Segmentation

Gender

We have not segmented our respondents according to their gender. We have selected only women as our respondents as they are the main consumer of microwave oven.

Age

37.33% of the respondents fall in the group of 20 to 25 years, 12% fall in the age group of 25 to 30 years, 12% fall in the age group of 30 to 35 years, 18.67% of the respondents fall in the group of 35 to 40 years and rest 20% respondents are within the age group of 40 years and above.  

Occupation

37.33% of the respondents are students, 37.33% are working women. 24 % house wives and rest 1.33% are not within this segment.

Income

Around 5.33% of the respondents said that their monthly family income is around TK.15,000 to 25,000, 16% said TK. 25,000 to TK. 35,000, 34.67% said TK. 35,000 to TK. 45,000, 44% said TK. 50,000 and  above but we have not found anyone who has monthly income below 15, 000.

Education

4% of the respondents passed S.S.C, 8% passed H.S.C, 1.33% passed O level, 1.33% passed A level, 38.67% are studying in university and rest 46.67% are graduate.

What is attitude

An attitude is a learned predisposition to behave in a consistently favorable and unfavorable way with respect to a given object. Attitudes are not directly observable but must be inferred from what people say or what they do. Attitudes are influenced by beliefs, past experience, learning from different sources, mass media and sometimes by a particular situation.

In conducting a consumer research we have to identify a specific object, here in our research which is different brands of microwave oven.

properties of attitude

The Attitude “Object”

 The word object include specific consumption or marketing related concepts, such as product, product category ,service, possessions, product use, causes or issues, people, advertisement, internet site, price, medium or retailer. In conducting attitude research, we tend to be object specific. For example: if we are interested in learning consumer attitudes towards three major brands of micro wave oven, our object will include—LG, Panasonic, and National.

Attitudes Are a Learned Predisposition

Attitude relevant to purchase behavior are formed as a result of direct experience with the product or exposure to mass media advertising. As learned predisposition attitudes have a motivational quality, that is, they might propel a consumer towards a particular behavior or repel the consumer away from a particular behavior. As a part of their learned predisposition women’s experience towards micro oven is shaped by TV advertisements, newspaper ads and other promotional campaign by the marketers. From the data collection we have found that about 40% of women gave most importance to TV and 28% of the women mainly learned about the brand from newspaper.

 Attitudes Have Consistency

Attitudes are relatively consistent with the behavior they reflect. However, despite this consistency attitudes are not necessarily permanent, they can change. We anticipate that consumer’s action will be consistent with their attitude, when consumers are free to act as they wish. We must consider possible situational influences on consumer attitudes and behavior. If consumer is brand loyal and if they are satisfied with a specific brand then they will have positive attitudes towards those brands. Those positive attitudes again reinforce them to buy that brand. If the consumers who prefer a particular brand of microwave also buy that brand because of its positive attributes, it means that their behavior is consistent with their attitude. But from the data collection we have found out that most of the consumers who use microwave oven are not that much brand loyal. So though they have bought a particular brand of microwave but about 51% people are not sure weather they will buy the same brand again. Thus we have seen that there is no consistency in their attitude.

Attitudes Occur Within a Situation

A specific situation can cause consumers to behave in ways that are seemingly inconsistent with their attitudes. For example: if the price of a specific brand is increases or availability of that brand product decreases or if the  quality or brand image damages, then consumer usually switch from one brand to another. Moreover, individual can have a variety of attitudes towards a particular behavior. It is important to understand how consumer attitudes vary from situation to situation. When measuring attitudes, we need to consider the situation in which the behavior takes place. When we have asked our respondents that weather they will buy their preferred brand even if the price is increased, 55% of them either disagreed or strongly disagreed to buy the product. We have also found out that because of high electricity bill about 60% women are concerned about using the Microwave oven. Thus these situations have influenced the attitude of women towards microwave oven.

Models of attitudes

To understand the relationship between the attitude and behavior of consumers of microwave oven we have construct two models of attitudes. These are stated below:

A. Tricomponent attitude model

1. The Cognitive Component: The cognitive component consists of a consumers cognition, which means, the consumers knowledge and perception acquired from direct experience and related information of the product from different sources.

Here in our project the women’s knowledge and perception about the microwave oven is acquired by their direct experience of consuming the product and the related information which they gather from various sources. These acquired knowledge and perception have built the consumers belief and attitude towards microwave oven. For example, we have found out that about 60% of the respondents have formed a negative opinion from their direct experience about the microwave oven because it has high electricity consumption. And about 60% of them have also realized that it is very important to take prior training before using it.

2. The Affective Component:  The affective component of attitude focus on the consumer’s emotions and feelings about a particular product or brand. These feelings and emotion of consumers capture the individual’s direct or global assessment of the attitude object, here in our project which is different brands of microwave. According to affective component consumers decide weather the attitude object is favorable or unfavorable. From the data collected we have found out that 43% of the respondents said that it takes less time to cook, and about 28% said it is easy to heat and defrost in a microwave oven; these are the positive attributes for which the microwave oven is favorable by consumers. But its high electricity consumption has given it a negative impact among the consumers.

3. The Conative Component: Conative component of the component attitude model is concerned with probability or tendency that an individual will carry out a specific action or behave in a particular way with regard to the attitude object. The consumers of microwave oven also have a tendency or likelihood towards the purchasing of microwave oven. This theory describes the consumers’ intention to buy microwave oven. From the data collection we have seen that about 61.66% agreed that they will buy the brand of microwave they use, again in future. So it reflects their intention to buy.

B. Multiattribute attitude model

1. The Attitude-Toward-Object Model: The attitude towards object model is especially suitable for measuring attitudes of consumers towards an attitude object such as a product or service category or specific brands. According to this model the consumers’ attitude toward a product or specific brands of a product is a function of the presence or absence and evolution of certain product specific beliefs and attributes. Here in our project we have seen that 50% of respondents generally have favorable attitudes towards those brands of microwave oven that they believe have variety of attributes and they have unfavorable attitude towards those brands which they feel, do have negative attributes, like high electricity consumption.

2. The Attitude-Toward- Behavior Model: The attitude toward behavior model explains the individual’s attitude toward behaving or acting with respect to an object rather than the attitude towards the object itself. It means a consumer might have a positive attitude towards an object but he will buy it only when the products meet his specifications and demands. In our research it has been seen that the consumers may like a particular brand but when they purchase a microwave they evaluate many attributes of it and then decide to buy it. If the attributes do not suit with their requirements the consumers do not buy the brand they usually prefer. From our data collection we have seen that 69.33% said that if the microwave has good quality then they will buy it.

Research Questions

It is beneficial for the reader to have a look at the research questions before getting into the findings part. While doing this research paper, we emphasized on finding out the answers of the following questions –

1. What is the income range of people who use microwave oven?
2. What is the profession of most of the women who prefer microwave oven?
3. How consumer learned about the brand?
4. Why consumers basically use microwave oven?
5. Why consumers prefer Microwave oven compared to Gas burner or Electric oven?
6. What is the most important feature to customer when they buy microwave oven?
7. What is the frequency rate of microwave use?
8. Are the microwave oven users concerned about electricity bill?
9. What are the benefits that microwave oven users search from it?
10. Do the user of microwave oven are sure whether they will buy the brand that they are using now in next time?
11. What is the customers’ opinion regarding the essentiality of microwave?
12. Is training important before using a microwave oven?
13. Do consumers think that food, cooked in a microwave oven doesn’t taste good?

Research Findings

→First of all we tried to find out the income range of people who use micro wave oven.

From analyzing the data we can say that most of the consumers of Microwave oven have high monthly income which is about more then 50,000 and they belong to either upper middle class or upper-class. So there is a relationship between consumer’s income and their purchasing ability of Microwave.

→As 37.33% of consumers of microwave oven are students and 37.33% are working women where as 24% are house wife.  So it can be easily understood that the people who has less time to prepare food and people who prefer the easy life mainly use microwave oven. Thus these groups of people are enjoying the benefit of Microwave oven.

→ 40% of respondents agreed that TV is the most important media through which they learned about the Microwave oven. Than they have come to know about the product from different sources like from relatives, friends and colleagues, who have already used the product and provide positive information about the product. News paper is another important source from where consumers learned about the brand of their Microwave oven, 48% agreed about it. 86.67% said bill board is the least important media to learn about microwave oven.

→ 68% consumers prefer microwave oven for heating purpose; some of them use it for cooking which is 29.33% and baking which is 26.67%. But very few people use microwave for all purpose which is only 8% because most of the people don’t know about the different use of microwave oven and its timing. So it has been seen that Microwave oven are popular for heating purpose and very few of the consumers fully utilize the facilities offered by Microwave oven.

→ Microwave oven can prepare and cook food in a very short time and this feature of microwave oven is most preferred by consumers. Heating and defrosting facility also attracts the consumers a lot, because of these features of Microwave oven 28% respondents give preference to it compared to other gas burners or electric oven.

→While buying Microwave oven the most important feature to respondents is the good quality microwave oven which got 69.33% as well as its brand image which got 49.33% response. Price is also an important factor to the consumers but they mainly give emphasis on good quality of microwave oven. Consumers have positive attitude towards those brands which are most available and which provides different size according to consumers need.

→46.67% respondents agreed that they are medium users and 33.33% regularly use microwave oven but mainly for heating or defrosting purpose. Some of the working women and students regularly use it for cooking or baking but percentage is very low. So the microwave oven is not yet been used in a high rate in Bangladesh compared to its benefits.

→we have come to know from the data collected from the respondent that 60% consumers are concerned about the electricity bill while they are using the microwave oven. But the heavy users argued that the electricity bill is not a big issue compared to the benefits the microwave oven offers and that respondent rate is 33.33%. But very few of them said that the electricity is not consumed that much. So we have assumed that the high electricity bill is the reason for a lesser amount of use of this product. So there is a negative relationship between microwave use and electricity bill and if the electricity bill increase then there is a possibility that the use of microwave oven will decrease.

→ 50% respondents said that they prefer that their microwave oven should have variety of options. 30% consumers want that their microwave oven consume less amount of electricity and 20% want warranty provided with it to ensure its quality.

→42.67% respondents are not certain weather they will buy the microwave oven next time that they are using now. But some of them are satisfied with their recent brand of microwave oven. But when they are questioned that, will they buy their brand at an increased price then 34.67% of them did not agree. 50.67% of them were not sure that their brand is the best brand of microwave oven.

→Some of the respondents said that Microwave oven is a luxury item but most of them disagreed about this opinion which is 33.33%. More over, 45.33% respondents said that microwave oven is an essential item.

→ Weather training is important or not, 24%respondent strongly agreed and 36% agreed that it is very important to take training before using microwave oven.

→ Most of the respondents (50.67%) disagreed about the opinion that the food, cooked in a microwave oven doesn’t taste good. So there is no relationship between the taste of food and the microwave oven.

Conclusion

In the concluding part we can see that the consumers of Bangladesh are still not enough habituated with use of microwave oven. Mainly high income people use it and the frequency of use is medium. Students and the working women is the best user of microwave oven. Though there are lots of features and options of microwave oven but people mainly use it for heating and baking. The reason can be lack of knowledge about how to cook in microwave oven and the other reason can be the electricity bill because there is negative relation between microwave oven and the electricity bill. More over most of the consumers are not brand loyal and they negatively react if the price increases. As microwave oven is a bit new and expensive product in Bangladesh, so it will take some time to prepare our attitude towards microwave oven.

Recommendation

→In Bangladesh consumer have very few knowledge about how to use a micro wave oven. Many customers think that it is mainly used for heating .If there is proper training campaign then consumer will be able to know about the use of different functions. For example-LG Butterfly have training program and they distribute the leaflet for the cooking class, which is really helpful for the customer.

→Advertising plays an important role in establishing a favorable brand image but microwave oven has very few advertising program in Bangladesh to build a strong and positive image. The retailer in the country should take necessary actions immediately to increase its popularity among the consumers, such as providing more advertisements in newspapers and billboards.

→Marketer can decrease the price of the oven and they can provide the cooking recipes with the oven. So that customer will be benefited as well as attracted to the product.

→Though the microwave oven proof cookeries are expensive, consumer can use plastic ovenproof jar to avoid extra expense.

→To avoid electricity bill consumer can use only those option which is not possible in gas burner like- heating, baking, toasting and defrosting rather than cooking .

Women’s attitude towards microwave oven

Questionnaire

We are conducting the survey to learn about the attitude of the consumers about Microwave.  There are no right or wrong answers. We only want your honest opinions.  Please answer all the questions. All information will be treated as confidential.

Please tick your answers:

v  Age group:    a. 20-25        b. 25-30         c. 30-35         d. 35-40          e. 40-above

v  Gross family monthly income:   a. Below Tk.15000     b. Tk. 15000 – Tk. 2500 c. Tk. 25000 – T k. 35000     d. Tk. 35000 – Tk. 45000     e. More than Tk. 50000

v  Education:  a. S.S.C.     b. H.S.C      c. O Level      d. A Level       e. University

     f. Graduate

v  Profession:   a. Student   b. House wife   c. Working women  d. Others_________

v  I live in –     a. Rented apartment,              b. Own apartment             c. Own House

      d. Government quarter             e. others (please specify) ____________________

v  Brand of the Microwave oven that I use:    a. LG             b. Panasonic

     c. National          d. Others_____________

v  I use Microwave oven for:   a. Heating       b. defrosting        c. Baking

     d. Cooking       e. For other purpose ______________

v I have learned about the Brand from (Please rank in order of importance):

      a. TV                  __________

      b. News paper    __________

      c. Magazine        __________

      d. Bill Board       __________

      e. Other sources  __________

v I prefer Microwave oven compared to Gas burner or Electric oven because:

a. It takes less time to cook      b. Easy to heat or defrost        c. It preserves quality

d. Easy to cook      e. Others ______________

v While buying Microwave oven the most important feature to me is (Please tick in the boxes bellow):

v  I think I am a –    a. Heavy User (regularly)     b. Medium User (3/4 times a week)    c. Light User 2/3 times in a month     d. Others ____________

v Which of the following statement is true for electricity bill:

1. I am concerned about electricity bill while buying it
2. It’s not a big issue compared to it’s time benefit
3. Electricity is not consumed that much

            d.   Others __________________

v SA = Strongly Agree,      A = Agree,      N = Neutral,         D = Disagree, 

SD = Strongly Disagree   

(Put a tick mark in the appropriate box according to your opinion)

v Benefit that I search in a Microwave oven:

1. Variety of options, of course
2. Low electricity consumption
3. Warranty provided with it
4. Availability of parts
5. Others________________

v SA = Strongly Agree,      A = Agree,      N = Neutral,         D = Disagree, 

SD = Strongly Disagree   

(Put a tick mark in the appropriate box according to your opinion)

Comments: ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR CO-OPARATION

Source of information

• www.google.com
• www.yahoo.com
• “Consumer Behavior” 8^th edition by Leon G. Schiffman and Leslie Lazar Kanuk.
• Questionnaire