Marketing RESEARCH PROJECT

Tata NANO’s Perception

Group Name- “Nano- But NOT”

Group Members-

1. Research objective
To find out the perception of Tata’s NANO among the Young Generation Executives
studying at IILM.

2. Research Design
Information Available

About Tata
Tata Motors Limited is India's largest automobile company. It is the leader by far in
commercial vehicles in each segment, and the second largest in the passenger vehicles
market. The company is the world's fifth largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle
manufacturer, and the world's second largest medium and heavy bus manufacturer.
Established in 1945, Tata Motors' presence indeed cuts across the length and breadth of
India with over 4 million vehicles, since the first rolled out in 1954. The foundation of the
company’s growth is a deep understanding of customer needs, and the ability to translate
them into customer-desired offerings through leading edge R&D.

About Tata NANO

Tata Motors has recently launched the Tata Nano – World’s Cheapest Car, priced at Rs.
1,00,000. Ratan Tata, the chairman of Tata Group and Tata Motors, promised India to
build the 'Worlds cheapest car' and now it done. It was define by the corporation as 'a
comfortable, safe, all-weather car, high on fuel efficiency & low on emissions'.

Characteristics of NANO
Cheap:
It is the world cheapest car: 1 lakh for the standard model. Due to this, it is considered as
the “People’s car”.

Fuel-efficient engine:
Its mileage is 20km/litre. The luxury model has a diesel engine.

Safe:
Nano features feat with all safety requirements. The car contains a strong passenger
compartment with crumple zones, intrusion-resistant doors, seat belts, strong seats,
anchorages… It had passed a full frontal crash tests. Moreover, it’s a safer way of
transport than motorcycles and rickshaws.

Comfortable:
Nano has been conceived for four persons. Its space is adapted according to this. Four
doors enable the entrance in the car. Seating space is generous and quite comfortable. It
permits the driver to manoeuvre easily.Besides, the car will be available in two models:
standard and deluxe.

Ecological:
According to Ratan Tata (chairman of Tata motor), Nano meet all current legislative
emission norms and could be upgraded to meet euro IV norms. It is less pollutant than
two-wheelers being manufactured in India.

Trendy:
Both versions of Nano (standard and deluxe) will be available in several colours. The
customer will also have the possibility to choose additional accessories to adapt the car to
its needs to make it look trendy and stylish.

Information Needs
Our marketing research problem is to find out how Tata Nano is perceived by potentials
consumers. To discover Tata NANO’s perception we needed to know what respondents
think about Tata Nano. We identified some characteristics as rural, trendy, safety,
ecological and trendy which can define Tata Nano and respondents need to be asked if
they agreed. We need to also know some information about whether the respondents
perceive NANO as the car for young generation or people’s car or both. Besides, they
need to be questioned about social class target for Nano. They have to choose between
upper class, upper middle class, middle class, lower middle class and lower class.

Moreover, we identified the following criteria: price and affordability, fuel efficiency,
good design, quality, comfort, after safe services, Tata’s brand name, as part of the
reasons why people will buy Nano. Respondents need to choose the reasons according to
their preference ranging from most likely to least likely
Then we need to know the purchase intention of the respondents and whether they think
Tata NANO will be successful or not. For this we asked some of the respondents what
they understand by a successful brand. According to them, a successful brand is one
which fulfills the promise of quality, which can be easily recalled by people, which has a
name and reputation in the market and focuses on customer satisfaction.
If we get all this information, we will be able to analyse Tata NANO’s perception.

3. Sampling
We choose the sample on the basis of Non-Probability Sampling. We decided to use
Convenience Sampling technique by taking the students of IILM Institute as a sample,
which represented the whole population of young executives, to conduct our marketing
research. Although there are many potential buyers of Tata NANO, but for this particular
research we decided to focus only on the young executives.

4. Data collection
Exploratory Research
We opted for the exploratory research to explore the first hand information about the
people’s perceptions for Tata’s Nano. It was necessary to know the key elements which
could be handy in judging the perception for Nano. To get the insights and understanding,
we showed the picture of Nano to the respondents and asked them what they think about
Nano. We also asked them to define Nano in one word. The responses varied from being
trendy to rural, from safe to ecological, cheap to people’s car.

Secondary Data Analysis

We also did secondary data analysis by getting information from the websites of Tata’s
Nano. We also searched throuth some blogs and interviews on the websites to find out
people’s perception about Tata’s Nanos.

Survey
We selected the questionnaire survey for the course of action, to get the new ideas and
insights about the perception of the people. We targeted the young executive as they are
the key potential buyers of Nano.
We decided to go for a closed ended questionnaire with a rating scale (in most questions)
so that it become easy for both the respondents and us to administer it and easily tabulate
and analyse it. We also pre-tested it two times within the group so, as to make the
questions error-free and accurate so that it can reveal relevant and accurate information
that we require to analyses the problem.
We surveyed in cafeteria, classes and in the college premises with the young excutives.

5. Data analysis
Results
We interviewed 50 students of the school in order to complete the survey. As we can
observe in the chart below, 44% of them were female and 56% male. We have a balanced
proportion between both genders in our sample. That enable this survey to be more
representative of the target market we choose to analyse.

Gender

44% 56%

male female
 General perception of Nano
Thanks to this survey, we tried to get people’s perception about Nano on several
parameters. These are given as under-

 Nano as a rural car:

Nano: a rural car?

60% 54%

50%

40%

30% 24%

20% 10%
8%
10% 4%

0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

It clearly appears that the majority of the respondents disagree with the affirmation that
Nano is a rural car. Only 28% of them agreed with that fact. Nano is most perceived as a
“city” car.

 Nano as a trendy car.

Nano: trendy?

60% 54%

50%
40%
30%
14%
20%
6% 24%
10% 2%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

These results illustrate that most of the respondents we surveyed agreed that Nano is trendy
(60%). People who want to be fashionable will be tempted to buy this car.
 Nano as “People’s car”.

Nano: People's car?

80% 70%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30% 22%
20%
0% 6% 2%
10%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

According the chart, we can say that Nano is “People’s car”. More than 90% of the
respondents agreed with that affirmation. Nano is considered as a car that suits with
“everybody’s” needs. It is a product of mass consumption.

 Nano as a safe and ecological car.

Nano: a safe car?

50% 44%

40% 34%

30%

20% 12% 10%

10%
0%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

Nano: an ecological car?

50% 42%

40% 32%
30%
16%
20%
10%
10% 0%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree
We can observe that an important percentage of persons (more than 40%) choose not to answer
to that questions telling they didn’t know. It illustrates people have some doubts about these two
characteristics of Nano. This is probably due to the fact the car has not been launch to the market yet.
However, the respondents seem to feel more comfortable with the affirmation that Nano is an
ecological car (42% agreed with that statement) than with the one that Nano is a safe car (just 12%
agreed with this).

 Nano as a car for young generation.

Nano: made for young generation?

45% 40%
40%
32%
35%
30%
25%
20% 12%
15% 10%
10% 6%
5%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

Most of the respondents disagreed with that affirmation even we can not clearly discern a
general tendency for that question. Respondents have mixed responses about Nano only as a
car for young generation.

 Target market

Tata Nano is for...

60% 54%

50% 42%
40%
30%
20%
4%
10%
0%
upper upper middle lower lower
class middle class middle class
class class

The respondents of our sample consider Nano as a car for middle or lower middle class. Its
price, its size and its features are probably the reasons of such an affirmation.
Buying a Nano

First, we tried to see in which measure students of the school would be interested in
buying a Nano. The results of the survey didn’t prove a great enthusiasm of the respondents to
that idea; perhaps because they didn’t consider belonging to middle or lower class. Most of
them (52%) answered they will maybe be interested by such a car.

Interest in buying a Nano

26% 22%

52%

yes maybe no

Reasons to buy NANO

Reasons for buying a Nano:

120%

100% Rank 7
Rank 6
80%
Rank 5
60% Rank 4
Rank 3
40%
Rank 2
20%
Rank 1
0%
Price Tata's brand Fuel Good design Quality Comfort
name efficiency

This chart shows that price is the principal motivation of purchase. Tata’s brand name is
coming just after. This is given in detail as under
 Impact of price and affordability on purchase

120%
96%
100%

80%

60%

40%

20%
0% 2% 0% 0% 0% 2%
0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7

Most respondents think that price is the most important factor which people will consider
while making a purchase decision about Nano.

Impact of fuel efficiency on purchase

30% 27%

25%
20%
20%
16%
13% 13%
15%
9%
10%

5% 2%

0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7

Impact of Tata's brand name on purchase

60%
50%
50%

40%

30%
17%
20%
9% 7% 9%
10% 4% 4%

0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7
 Impact of good design on purchase

35%
29%
30%

25% 22%

20% 16%
15% 11% 11%
10% 7%
4%
5%
0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7

Impact of quality on purchase

30% 27%

25% 22%
20%
20%
13%
15%
9%
10% 7%

5% 2%

0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7

Impact of comfort on purchase

38%
40%
35%
30%
25% 20%
18%
20%
13%
15%
10% 7%
5% 2% 2%

0%
rank 1 rank 2 rank 3 rank 4 rank 5 rank 6 rank 7
NANO- A Sucessful car ?

Nano: a successful car?

60% 52%
50%
40% 29%
30%
20% 15%

10% 4% 0%
0%
strongly agree don't know disagree strongly
agree disagree

From the above chart, 67% of the respondents think that Nano will be a successful car and
just 4% of them consider it will not be a successful brand. That is quite encouraging for Tata’s
brand!

Correlation

We also found out the coefficient of correlation between elements to understand whether the
relationship between them is positive or negative. It is explained as under.

Rural and Trendy -0.209

Trendy and Young Generation 0.248
People's car and Safety 0.086
Young Generation and people's car -0.037
Rural and young generation -0.087
Rural and people's car -0.213

1. The coefficient of correlation between rural and trendy is negative, shows that people
who say Nano is a rural car disagrees that it is trendy and fashionable and vice-versa.

2. The coefficient of correlation between trendy and young generation is positive, shows
that the respondents who believe Nano is trendy also believe that is it made for young
generation.
3. The coefficient of correlation between “people’s car” and safety is positive, shows
that people think it is safe that is why it is people’s car.

4. The coefficient of correlation between the young generation and people’s car is
negative, shows that the respondents who think Nano is for young generation dont
agree that it is people’s car.

5. The correlation between the rural car and the young generation car is negative, shows
that respondents who think Nano is a rural car don’t think it is for young generation
and those who think Nano is for young generation do not agree that it is a rural car.
The degree of correlation is not very high. It shows that respondents are not really sure
of the conclusion given above.

6. The correlation between the rural car and the people’s car is negative, shows that
respondents who believe Nano is a rural car do not seem to accept it as People’s car,
and vice-versa.

7. The correlation between the trendy and people’s car is negative, shows that it is either
trendy or a people’s car. But the low degree of correlation suggests that respondents
are not really sure of this thing.

6. Conclusion and report

Key Findings
 i. Nano is not really perceived as a rural car. 64% of the respondents disagree with
the fact that it is a rural car. Despite being the cheapest car in the world people
accept and see it as a city car. From secondary data analysis, we found that Nano’s
main target segment is rural India. But our findings tell us that apart from rural
India, it has a huge market in Tier1, Tier2 and Tier3 cities in India. So Tata’s
strategy should be to do good branding in order to attract large customer segments,
especially youth of India.

ii. 60% of the respondents agree that Nano is trendy. People perceive it as a
fashionable car. So, as Nano is perceived as trendy, it has potential to make huge
business apart from rural part. It should tap the untouched cheap A-category car
market in urban, semi-urban and towns of India. It must also attract people who
buy motor bikes. Negative correlation between rural and trendy clearly suggest
that most of the respondents are bifurcated between those who think Nano is a
rural car and those who think it is trendy. So this thing itself seems to increase the
customer base for Nano.

iii. More then 90% of the respondents agree that Nano is People’s Car. We got mixed
responses about Nano as a car for young generation. It is a car which fits to the
needs of all types of customers. It is a product of mass consumption.

iv. In terms of safety and ecology, we have got fairly mixed responses. Most
respondents said they don’t know whether Nano is safe and ecological or not.
More than 40% respondents did not know whether it is safe and ecological. This is
probably because they have not really driven Nano.

v. The respondents perceive Nano as a car for middle or lower middle class. Its price,
its size and its features are the reasons of such an affirmation. It also confirms that
it is a car for masses.

vi. The research has shown that price and Tata’s brand name are the most important
reasons for the people to buy Nano. 96% respondents gave price as the first reason
to buy Nano. We believe the company should keep up its brand leverage on the
people. It must keep the promised price. The other reasons like design, fuel
 efficiency, after sale services were not considered important because Nano is yet to
be launched.

vii. 67% of the respondents think that Nano will be a successful car and just 4% of tem
doubt this. That is quite encouraging for Tata’s brand! This also suggest that
people trust Tata as a company. They think very positively about Nano despite the
fact that it has not launched

Issues in the Research

i. In the questionaire, in a question where the respondents had to rank the choices
from 1 to 7, they ticked only one choice, instead of ranking them. So, we had to
narrate that question to most of the respondents in order to get accurate
information.

ii. The term ‘ecological’ in one of the questions was not very clear. So, we had to
explain it to respondents. We defined the term as ‘environment friendly’ to get
their responses.

iii. Another issue while selecting Sample is Convenience sampling. We decided to go

for convenient sampling in order to make the process simple.

iv. Our sample does not represent whole target market for Nano. We have choosen
only one segment, i.e. young executives.

Learnings:
This project was useful because it has completed the theory that we learned in class. It
allows us to use the whole market research process and to understand each stage of it.
Thanks to this study, we learned how to conduct a survey through the collection of
secondary and primary data and the elaboration and administration of a questionnaire to a
selected sample.