Brand Awareness and Perception towards Branded Jewellery Essay

The gems and jewellery industry occupies an important position in the Indian economy and is one of the fastest growing industries in the country. In the late 1990s, the Indian jewellery market witnessed a shift in consumer perceptions of jewellery. Apart from its historical religious significance, Jewellery is valued as an important savings and investment vehicle in India. Even in present times, Jewellery remains the Indian bride’s `Streedhan’, the wealth she takes with her when she marries and which remains hers. Gold jewellery is the preferred jewellery worn by women in India irrespective of their religious beliefs. In marriages, gold jewellery is the gift preferred by the near relatives of the bride and the groom. Jewellery is very popular among farmers, with an upsurge in gold sales after a good agricultural season. Buying of gold is an important part of every stage of an Indian citizen’s life— at birth, marriage, construction of home, festivals, relig ious ceremonies, setting up of new business, and death. Instead of being regarded as only an investment option, jewellery was being prized for its aesthetic appeal. In other words, the focus seemed to have shifted from content to design. Trendy, affordable and lightweight jewellery soon gained familiarity. Branded jewellery also gained acceptance forcing traditional Jewellers to go in for branding. As India makes rapid progress in the retail arena, the Indian Jewellery market is undergoing a gradual metamorphosis from unorganised to organised formats. Jewellery retailing is moving from a ‘storehouse of value’ to a precious fashion accessory. Plain gold is gradually easing its stranglehold on the Indian consumer psyche to give way to diamonds, platinum and coloured gemstones. The way jewellery was worn before is undergoing a tremendous change. However branded jewellery players will continue to face lot of competition from local jewellers. In order to gain market share, they will have to come up with designs that customers want and win the trust and confidence of consumers by hallmarking and demonstrating the purity of the gold used by them. To compete with traditional players, branded players must also find some way to differentiate themselves. While the success of a particular brand will depend on differentiation, affordability and quality will be a key element  in sustaining a brand. The present study will help us to understand the brand awareness and perception of the customers towards MALABAR GOLD jewellery in Bangalore. 3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM In the emerging knowledge based economy it has become necessary to know how much market power lies with the brand name. Awareness and Perception are the two key metrics that any company would use to measure their brand strength. The study of brand awareness and perception is essential in marketing planning. Customer needs and preferences keep changing where brands ultimately command customer’s loyalty. Without brand awareness occurring, no other communication effects can occur. For a consumer to buy a brand they must first be made aware of it. Brand attitude cannot be formed, and intention to buy cannot occur unless brand awareness has occurred. Brand perception is created by consumer experience with the brand’s product or service. In other words, perception is the values consumers attach to a brand. After the purchase of specialty goods or shopping goods, the customer exhibits post purchase behaviour. It may be either cognitive consonance or cognitive dissonance. The consonance leads to dissatisfaction. But when it comes to customers going in high value premium segment goods such as gold, diamond and platinum ornaments, in a high competitive with too many players in the market, then the customer surely has a wide range of choice to choose from and carefully evaluates the different showrooms before making a purchase decision. In such a situation, any purchase dissonance will lead to very high degree of dissatisfaction, which may also lead to spreading negative opinion to the prospective buyer of jeweller’s outlet. Hence a research is undertaken to understand the brand awareness and perception towards branded jewellery with specific reference to Malabar Gold and Diamonds, Bangalore. 4. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY Primary objective The main objective of the study is to determine the level of brand awareness  and brand perception of Malabar Gold Jewellery, and the use of it as a measure to increase the marketing effectiveness of Malabar Brand Jewellery. Secondary objectives i. To compare the customer preference between the branded and non branded jewellery ii. To understand the parameters the customers consider while buying jewellery iii. To know how brand preference is formed in purchasing Malabar Gold jewellery among customers iv. To measure the level of satisfaction of customers of Malabar Gold v. To analyze the marketing strategies of Malabar Gold with regard to brand awareness and perception 5. RESEARCH DESIGN TYPE OF RESEARCH The study will be descriptive in nature POPULATION Customers buying gold in Bangalore City SAMPLE SIZE The sample for the study would be limited to 105 respondents. SAMPLING UNIT For this study the respondents will be the customers buying gold and diamond jewellery TYPE OF SAMPLING Simple random sampling method will be used for the study. TOOLS OF DATA COLLECTION Primary data: Primary data will be collected using a structured questionnaire as well as personal interview method. Secondary data: The secondary data for this work will be obtained from company magazines and brochures, website, newspapers, internet, text books, reports and other promotional materials. HYPOTHESES STATED FOR THE STUDY: Hypothesis 1 Null Hypothesis (H0): Gender of customers and preference for branded and non-branded jewellery is independent. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Gender of customers and preference for branded and non-branded jewellery is independent. Hypothesis 2 Null Hypothesis (H0): Marital Status of customers and purchase of jewellery is independent. Alternative Hypothesis (H1): Marital Status of customers and purchase of jewellery is dependent. PLAN OF ANALYSIS The data collected from various sources will be tabulated and represented using the percentage and ranking method. Graphical tools like bar diagrams, pie charts etc., will be used to illustrate the tabulated data pictorially. Inferences and interpretation of the data will be done on the basis of tabulated data. In both Hypotheses 1 and 2, the null hypotheses will be tested using Chi-Square test for independence of attributes at 5% level of significance. 6. PROPOSED CHAPTER SCHEME: a. Introduction b. Review of Literature & Research Design c. Profile of Industry/Business/Selected Organisations d. Results, Analyses and Discussions e. Summary of Findings, Conclusions and Recommendations.