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Study on Buying and Reading Behaviour

of people towards various Newspapers

Submitted To, Submitted By,

Prof. Jinal Parikh Rajnish Busa (A-9)

Paavan jingar (A-22)

Harnish Ninama (A-34)

Saksham Saharia (A-46)

Rajnibala Vasaiya(A-59)

Amrut Mody School of Management (AMSoM)

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CONTENTS

No. Title Page No.

Acknowledgement…………………............ 3

1. Executive Summary………………… 4

2. Indian Newspaper Industry…………5

3. Literature Review……………………8

4. Objective/Problem definition……….11

5. Approach to the problem……………12

6. Research Methodology……………....13

7. Observations & Analysis…………….15

8. Conclusion.……………………………27

9. Bibliography………………………….28

10. Appendices (Questionnaire)…………29

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Acknowledgement

We take this opportunity to humbly express our sincere thanks to all those

concerned with our Research project titled ―Study on Buying and Reading

behaviour of people towards various newspapers‖.

We express deep feelings of gratitude to Prof. JINAL PARIKH (Amrut

Mody School of Management) for providing us the opportunity to work on such

an interesting project. Without her able guidance and sincere efforts this project

could not have been successfully completed. Her invaluable guidance has

proved to be the key to success in overcoming difficulties we faced during the

course of the project work.

We are also obliged to all the respondents who took some time out of their

schedule and gave healthy response to our questionnaire.

Moreover, we express our deep sense of gratitude to all the staff members

of our college, Amrut Mody School of Management, for their support and

guidance to us.

With regards,

Saksham Saharia ,

Paavan Jingar,

Rajnish Busa,

Harnish Ninama,

RajniBala Vasaiya

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Executive Summary

This research project is conducted in order to understand the buying and

reading behaviour of people towards various newspapers.

Through this research work, we have tried to make a survey about

how much are the people interested in reading newspapers; which

newspapers they prefer to read; which genre of news they like the most and

how do they rate various parameters with respect to the newspapers they

read.

The research also provides results that how the buying and reading

behaviour varies with the age group and occupation. Also it brings about the

various other things that people wish to see in the newspapers they read, and

the reasons why they like/dislike reading the newspapers.

The research methodology that we used for the project is

questionnaire. The questionnaire is designed such that it covers all the

objectives of the research work. The sample size is selected as 100 and the

responses are analysed and conclusions are derived from it.

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The Indian Newspaper Industry

Newspaper publication in the country began in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in the

1780’s and by 1800 there were several dozen newspapers in English, with the

numbers increasing periodically. The Indian newspaper industry can be primary

segmented across three categories: English, Hindi and vernacular newspapers.

There are approximately 1907 daily newspapers published in India of which

newspapers in the vernacular language comprise 49.0% of total newspapers,

followed by Hindi (42.1%) and English 8.9%. Most of the vernacular and Hindi

newspapers have a regional focus. The English medium dominates the industry

in terms of advertisement revenues, though vernacular newspapers outperform

the English newspapers in circulation.

English newspaper industry in India has been fragmented with the players

having a regional focus such as the Deccan Chronicle in Hyderabad, Hindustan

Times in Delhi, Times of India in Mumbai, Hindu in Chennai, Telegraph and

Statesman in Kolkata, Deccan Herald in Bangalore, Gujarat Samachar in

Ahmedabad. However, the industry is witnessing a trend whereby players are

looking beyond their home territories viz. Times of India’s and Business

Standard’s entry into certain newer territories and Deccan Chronicle and

Hindustan Times also doing the same.

The competitive landscape has now drastically changed with major

publishers trying to expand to other geographic regions, initiating price wars

and marketing campaigns to win readers. The competitive intensity, which was

quite ―mild‖ until few years ago, also reached a higher level with the launch of

DNA and Hindustan Times in the Mumbai market.

A booming economy and the opportunity to raise funds from a well-

developed financial market have also contributed to the growth of the

newspaper industry in India. Indian newspaper industry had a turnover of Rs

13,500 crore in 2010. It is expected to touch Rs 15,500 crore. The size of media

industry in India as a portion of the GDP is estimated at 0.7%, which is lower

than most of the developed and developing nations. Thus it offers a scope of

high growth in this industry moving forward. With rising income and education

level in India, readership is expected to rise and with favourable demographics,

advertising revenues will increase as advertisers start spending more to attract

higher quality audience with more purchasing power.

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Newspaper publication is usually issued on a daily or weekly basis, the

main function of which is to report news. Many newspapers also furnish special

information to readers, such as weather reports, television schedules, and

listings of stock prices. They provide commentary on politics, economics, and

arts and culture, and sometimes include entertainment features, such as comics

and crossword puzzles. In nearly all cases and in varying degrees, newspapers

depend on commercial advertising for their income.

Present scenario is that by the time, people see a newspaper, most of them

have already learned about the breaking news stories on television or radio.

Readers rely on newspapers to provide detailed background information and

analysis, which television and radio newscasts rarely offer. Newspapers not

only inform readers that an event happened but also help readers understand

what led up to the event and how it will affect the world around them.

The staff of a large newspaper works under the constant pressure of

deadlines to bring news to readers as quickly as human energy and

technological devices permit. Reporters, photographers, artists, and editors

compile articles and graphics—sometimes in just a few hours. Page designers

assemble articles, photos, illustrations, advertisements, and eye-catching

headlines into page layouts, and then rush their work to the printer.

Newspapers as known today are complete with advertising and a mixture of

political, economic, and social news and commentary.

Business news papers in India

Publication of Business newspapers started in India by the launch of Economic

Times on 5th march 1961. It has traditionally been the essential reference

document on Indian business, polity, economy and finance. Its focus on the

managerial component and evolving business in India and abroad makes it the

favorite amongst intellectuals, managers as well as students and researchers,

having recorded a staggering growth of 150% over the past few years. The

Economic Times has emerged as the most widely circulated economic and

business daily in the country and among the top three English financial dailies

in the world.

Business Standard was started in 1975 by the Ananda Bazaar group in

what was then Calcutta, the paper was hived off as a separate company in 1996,

and then bought by Mumbai-based financial investors, after which it began a

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phase of rapid expansion with the launch of new editions. The Financial Times

of London took an equity stake in BSL in 2004.

Business Line or The Hindu Business Line is an Indian business

newspaper published by Kasturi and Sons, the publishers of the very famous

newspaper The Hindu Business Line started publishing in 1994. It is India's

youngest business newspaper and also the country's second largest selling, with

a circulation of one lakh copies, next to the Economic Times.

Financial Times entered into the market after Business Line, so did the

Hindustan Times, Mint and Financial Chronicle which is the youngest of the lot.

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Literature

While conducting this research project, we required some literature base to

understand the consumer behavior towards any products, the various factors

which influence the consumer behavior and the stages in buying behavior

process. These details are necessary in order to develop an understanding about

the various patterns observed while making the survey regarding the buying

behavior of people towards the newspapers.

Apart from this, we came through some other researches also, with similar

objective, the results of which were useful in our study. We have included

excerpts from this research for the Business newspaper, Business standard.

The literature regarding buying and consumer behavior and the factors

influencing it-

BUYING BEHAVIOR

Behavior is the interaction with the ambient surrounding environment, inherent

in living creatures and mediated by their external and inner activeness. The

fields of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups and organizations

select buy use and dispose of goods, services, ideas, experiences to satisfy their

needs and desires. Studying customers provides clues for developing new

products, product features, prices, channels, message and other marketing mix

elements. Study of buyer behavior for any product is of vital importance to

marketers in shaping the fortunes of their organizations. Thus knowledge of the

buyer and his buying motives is a fundamental necessary for marketers.

Consumers Behavior:

Consumer behavior is actions of consumers in the market place and the

underlying motives for those actions; the study of consumer behavior is the

study of how individuals make decisions to spend their available recourses

(time, money, effort) on consumption of related items. Consumer behavior is

helpful in understanding the purchase behavior and preference of different

consumers.

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Factors influencing consumer behavior:

The behavior of buyers, both individual and organizational consumers, is

influenced by the various uncontrollable factors. If management is to use the

controllable (i.e. product, price, promotion and distribution) effectively, clear

understanding of these uncontrollable factors is essential. The combination of

various factors like personal, socio-economical and cultural, social and

psychological, produce a different impact on each one of us as manifested in our

different behavior as consumers.

Buyer

Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior

Stages in the buyer decision process:

In making a purchase decision the consumer goes through the six stages,

Need Recognition

Pre-Purchase Information Search

Evaluation of Alternatives

Purchase intention

Purchase decision

Post – Purchase Behavior

CULTURAL

Cultural

Sub culture

Social class

SOCIAL

Reference group

Family

Role & Status

PERSONAL

Age & Life

cycle stages

Occupation

Income

Life cycle

Personality

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Motivation

Perception

Learning

Belief & Attitude

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Excerpts from the concluding report of research conducted by Business

Standard-

Out of a total sample of 150, 96 people said they are interested in

subscribing for business newspaper along with regular newspaper i.e.

almost 64%. Only 8% disagreed i.e. just 12 members out of 150.42

people strongly agreed that they are interested in subscribing for a

business newspaper along with the regular newspaper.

Out of a sample of 150 almost 60% people said that they are more

interested in reading financial dailies than regular newspaper (44%

agree+16% strongly agree) and remaining 40% said they are interested

more in reading a regular newspaper.

Out of a sample of 150, 138 people are interested, if they include a

supplement on general news in a business newspaper (56% agree + 36%

strongly agree). Only 12 people said that they are not interested in

reading general news in a business newspaper.

Out of a sample of 150, most of the people disagreed with the above

statement that they would like to see sports news in business dailies i.e.

nearly 65% people disagreed. Only 24% people agreed that they would

like to see and the remaining 12% are undecided.

Launching a new supplement on the IT sector can help in improving the

sales of the newspaper to a great extent.

Annual magazines are very popular among all the categories of the

sample taken as the content is good and the information provided by

those magazines is quite good. The respondents wanted these magazines

to be published more frequently.

There are major problems with the circulation of the newspaper, which

need to be addressed immediately. There are only two executives to deal

with vendors across Bangalore for implementing the newspaper

subscriptions. As a result, most of the customers do not receive the

newspaper. The vendors are also not willing to supply the paper as the

commission they receive is very low when compared to other competitive

papers.

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Objective

The objectives of conducting this research work are-

To know about people’s interest towards reading newspapers.

To know that which form of media they prefer the most to get themselves

updated.

To know about people’s buying and reading behavior towards various

newspapers.

To analyse how these behavior vary with age group and occupation.

To evaluate the newspapers based on various parameters, like content,

price, language etc.

To evaluate the content of the newspapers on the basis of various

parameters.

To understand what other things people wish to see in the newspapers of

their choice.

To analyse why people like/dislike reading newspapers.

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Approach to the problem

The need was to make a Qualitative study of the various newspapers

available in the market to determine the various objectives of the research.

The approach to these problems can be determined as follows-

First, we determined what may be the possible sources through which

people keep themselves updated with the happenings around the

world.

Then, we analyzed the various factors that may influence people’s

decision towards reading a newspaper.

We determined which are the newspaper dailies and business

newspapers prevalent in the market.

Then, we decided the parameters necessary to evaluate any

newspaper.

Then, we determined the various features important in the content of

any newspaper.

We also decided what may be the time and place where people would

prefer to read newspapers.

Then, we designed a Questionnaire that covered all these information

required for the research.

The questionnaire was designed so as to be easily understandable by

the people and the questions were to the point and less in number, so

that the respondent doesn’t get annoyed.

The questionnaires were analyzed and conclusions were drawn out of

as many as 100 responses.

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Research Methodology

Research Design Type-

The type of research design is Exploratory. The main purpose of such

studies is that of formulating problem for more precise investigation or of

developing the working hypothesis from an operational point of view. The

major emphasis in such studies is on the discovery of ideas and insights. As

such the research design appropriate for such studies must be flexible

enough to provide opportunity for considering different aspects of a problem

under a study.

Our study of analyzing the buying and reading behavior of people

towards various newspapers also demands the Exploratory research design.

Research Instrument used-

The research instrument used for this project is Questionnaire. The

questionnaire is designed such that it covers all the objectives of the research

work. The language of the questionnaire is kept simple and easily

understandable. The questions are to the point and convey the exact

information required for the research. Also the number of questions is

enough to solve the purpose of the research and not annoy the respondent.

Through the questionnaire, we have tried to know about how much are

the people interested in reading newspapers; which newspapers they prefer

to read; which genre of news they like the most and how do they rate various

parameters with respect to the newspapers they read.

The questionnaire also helped in making analysis that how the buying

and reading behavior varies with the age group and occupation. Also it

brings about the various other things that people wish to see in the

newspapers they read, and the reasons why they like/dislike reading the

newspapers.

The sample size is selected as 100 and the responses are analyzed and

conclusions are derived from it.

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Data collection sources-

In order to conduct this research project, we collected data from the

following primary and secondary sources-

Primary Data sources- through the questionnaire, interaction with people

and through our own observations, we developed the various aspects of

research and asked people to put in their thoughts.

Secondary Data sources- secondary sources include the similar research

works already conducted with similar objectives, which we obtained through

internet.

Type of sample design-

We have implemented Probability sample design in this research project.

Under this sampling design, every item of the universe has an equal chance

of inclusion in the sample. It is a blind chance alone whether one item or the

other is selected.

The results obtained from probability or random sampling can be

assured in terms of probability, i.e., we can measure the errors of estimation

or the significance of results obtained from a random sample, and this fact

brings out the superiority of random sampling design over the non

probability or deliberate sampling design.

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Research Analysis

The prospective study of descriptive research was undertaken by using survey

method. A structure questionnaire was designed and finally given to

respondents to elicit specific information. So from the all responses through

people we have interpreted following details of different questions of

questionnaire.

1.) Gender and Age:-

Interpretation:

In the above two charts we can see that out of 100 sample size 65%

respondents were male and 35% were females with different age

groups.

Out of which 5% were below age of 18 year, 70% were between 19 to 35

year, 18% were between 36-50 year and 7% were more than 50 year.

Male

65%

Female

35%

Gender

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

<18 19-35 36-50 >50

Age

Age

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2.) Occupation:-

Interpretation:

In the above chart we can see that we have surveyed people of different

occupation for our research project and get the following information.

Student - 48%

Salaried - 21%

Businessman - 11%

Self-Employed - 21%

So from this data it shows that we get maximum response from students

who read newspapers more compare to other.

3.) Media:-

Student

48%

Salaried

21%

Businessman

11%

Selfemployed

20%

Occupation

Print Media38%

Electronic Media49%

Other13%

Form of Media

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Interpretation:-

In the above chart we can see that most of people we surveyed get the news

widely from Electronic Media that is 49% and then from Print Media that is

38%. And rests of others get the news from other sources that are 13%.

4.) Consumers interest in Current Affairs:-

Interpretation:-

In the above chart we can see that the interest of consumers to keep aware or

have knowledge of current affairs all over the world. So from survey we get

following information about consumer’s interest.

Very Much Interested – 52%

Interested – 32%

Little Interested – 10%

Not at all interested – 6%

52%

32%

10%

6%

Interest in Current Affairs

Very much

Interested

Little

Not at all

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5.) Newspapers Dailies:-

60%

10%

20%

8%

36%

28%

1% 1% 2%

22%

12%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Newspapers Dailies

Newspapers Dailies

60%

10%

20%

8%

36%

28%

1%1%

2%22% 12%

Newspapers Dailies

TOI

IE

DNA

HT

GS

DB

RP

GV

NT

Sandesh

AM

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Interpretation:-

In the above charts we can see that which newspaper dailies people subscribe to

read. We get the following information.

The Times of India (TOI) - 60%

Indian Express (IE) - 10%

DNA - 20%

Hindustan Times (HT) - 8%

Gujarat Samachar (GS) - 36%

Divya Bhaskar (DB) - 28%

Rajasthan Patrika (RP) - 1%

Gujarat Vaibhav (GV) - 1%

Navbharat Times (NT) - 2%

Sandesh - 22%

Ahmedabad Mirror (AM) - 12%

So it can come to know that out of the total response of questionnaire from

people The Times of India newspaper is subscribed more which is English

newspaper and then Gujarat Samachar newspaper which is Guajarati

newspaper.

6.) Business Newspaper:-

For the Business Newspapers we ask question to respondents that do you

read business newspaper with answer of yes or no and if answer comes

to yes then which business newspaper. So from this we get the following

information which we can see in following pie charts.

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Interpretation:-

In the above charts we can see that 68% people are reading Business

Newspapers and 32% are not reading Business Newspapers. And that 68%

people read which Business Newspapers has been also shown in above pie

chart.

Business Standard – 53%

Economic Times – 37%

Business Line – 10%

So we can say that people read Business Standard Newspaper more to keep

updated with business knowledge and affaires. Thus there is a lot of scope for

the growth of business newspapers in the present conditions. Many people are

Yes68%

No32%

BS

53%ET

37%

BL

10%

Business Newspapers

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interested in subscribing for business newspapers along with the regular

newspaper.

7.) Time and Place to read Newspapers:-

We ask people following two questions to know their time and place of reading

newspapers. Question with relevant answer are as follow.

When do you like these newspapers?

Daily in the Morning – 52%

At Leisure Time – 22%

Before Sleeping – 6%

Not Fixed – 20%

Where do you prefer reading these newspapers?

At Home – 75%

At Library – 18%

At Workplace – 6%

While Travelling – 2%

52%

22%

6%

20%

In morning At leisure Before sleeping Not fixed

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So from above data we can say that most of people generally read newspapers

in the morning time at their home and keep updated them with current affairs.

They also like to read newspapers at their Leisure time or before sleeping and

some people also read newspapers in library or at their workplace.

8.) Newspaper Dailies Average Rating with following Features:-

National News

Local News

International News

Business News

Sports News

Movies

Weather Forecast

74%

18%

6%

2%

At home At library At work Place Travelling

4.90 4.40 4.07 4.16 4.50 4.94 4.44

Overall Rating Average

Overall Rating Average

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5.404.50

4.944.40 4.68

3.804.25

TOI Rating Average

TOI Rating Average

4.865.28

4.32 4.284.63

2.94

3.76

GS Rating Average

GS Rating Average

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Interpretation:-

In the above charts we can see that people have rate for various newspapers

dailies with different features. And it is found that overall people prefer to read

more of National News, Movie and Entertainment related News, Sports News

and Local News.

For The Times of India (TOI) people prefer to read more of National News,

International News, Local News and Sports News.

For the Gujarat Samachar (GS) people prefer to read more of Local News,

National News and Sports News.

For the Divya Bhaskar (DB) people prefer to read more of Local News,

International News, and National News.

9.) Dailies and Business Newspaper Average Rating with following

parameters:-

Content

Timeliness of News

Language

Presentations

Advertisements

Contests/Games

Price Affordability

4.76 4.86 4.944.26 4.60

3.40 3.70

DB Rating Average

DB Rating Average

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4.71

4.014.12

4.40

4.18 4.22

4.75

Overall Rating Average

Overall Rating Average

4.94

4.76

4.454.56

4.36 4.40

4.70

TOI Rating Average

TOI Average Rating

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Interpretation:-

In the above charts we can see that people have rate for various newspapers

dailies and business newspapers with different parameters. And it is found that

overall people are more concern towards price and contents of the newspapers.

For The Times of India (TOI) people are more concern towards contents,

timeliness of news, price and presentation of the newspaper.

For Business Standard (BS) people are more concern towards price, contents

and presentation of the newspaper.

When asked that what more would people like to see in their newspaper,

majority of them emphasized over more knowledge based articles and

news related to the city and updates over share market.

Moreover people said that they like to read newspapers to develop their

knowledge base and keep themselves updated with the current

happenings across the world.

4.403.96 3.80

4.243.98 4.00

4.80

BS Rating Average

BS Average rating

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Conclusions

Through this research project we conclude that people like to read newspapers

in order to keep them updated with the latest happenings across the world and

hence they put more emphasis over the content of the newspapers. Another

determining factor that influences the buying behavior of people towards

various newspapers is Price.

As far as the reading behavior of people towards these newspapers is concerned,

majority of people prefer to read newspaper at home in the morning time.

People prefer to read more of Local and National news and also have interest

towards sports and Movies & entertainment news items. People would like to

read more knowledge based news articles and more local news along with more

news updates from the share markets.

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Bibliography

www.newspaperresearchjournal.org

www.bizreport.com

www.highbeam.com

www.bivingsreport.com

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Appendix

Questionnaire Personal details:

Name: ______________________________________________________________

Gender: Male Female

Age: <18 19-35 36-50 >50

Occupation: Salaried Business Self employed

1) Which form of Media, you prefer the most in getting the news across the world?

Print Media Electronic Media Other sources

2) How much are you interested in knowing about the current affairs all across the world?

Very much interested_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Not at all interested

3) Which newspaper dailies do you prefer to read?

The Times of India Indian Express DNA

Hindustan Times Gujarat Samachar Divya Bhaskar

Rajasthan Patrika Gujarat Vaibhav Navbharat times

Any Other(s) ___________________________________________________________

4) Do you prefer to read Business newspapers?

Yes No

If yes, then please mention the name.

Business Standard Economic Times

Any Other(s) ____________________________________________________________

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5) When do you like these newspapers?

Daily in the morning at leisure time before sleeping not fixed

6) Where do you prefer reading these newspapers?

At home Library At work place Any other ______________

7) On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the following features with respect to the content of your

choice of newspaper dailies-

Features

Newspaper dailies

1. _________ 2. __________ 3.___________ 4.__________

National News

Local News

International News

Business News

Sports News

Movies

Weather forecast

8) What else would you like to see in your newspapers? -

_______________________________

9) On a scale of 1 to 10, rate the following Parameters of the newspapers you read.

Parameters

Newspaper dailies Business newspapers

1.________ 2.________ 3.________ 1.________ 2._______

Content

Timeliness of news

Language

Presentation

Advertisements

Contests/Games

Price affordability

10) I like/dislike reading newspapers because:

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________