1. By
S.SHARMILA

2. A STUDY ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE TOWARDS SUPPLEMENTS IN “THE HINDU” NEWSPAPER
BY
S.SHARMILA
412411631044
of
SRI SAIRAM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
A SUMMER PROJECT REPORT
Submitted to the
FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES
In partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the award of the degree
of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
ANNA UNIVERSITY
Chennai 600 025
August – 2012-2013

3. AKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am thankful to the management of Sri Sai Ram Institute Of Technology which has
imparted me sufficient knowledge and confidence to complete this project in the field training.
I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude and indebtedness to our Chairman
MJF.Ln.Leo Mutu, Dr. Palani Kumar- Principal Of Sri Sai Ram Institute Of Technology
Chennai. Mr.V.R.Rajamanickam- Director of Sri Sai Ram Group of Institutions,- for
granting me permission to carry out this project on service quality.
I’m highly obliged to our beloved Dr.K.Maran (Director) for his encouragement and
constant support throughout the project.
My sincere regards and always due to our head of the department, Mr.V.Selvakumar,
Sri Sai Ram Institute Of Technology, for their continuous support and motivation.
I extend my heartfelt thanks and deep sense of gratitude to my guide
Mr.B.Venkateswara Prasad, lecturer, Sri Sai Ram Institute Of Technology, For guiding
me in all works in a kind manner and enabling me to march towards the successful finshing of
this project.
I’m very grateful to all the faculty members of the department of management studies
for their encouragement and kind-hearted advice.
I’m also thankful to Ms.Chitradevi Deputy General Manager of “The Hindu” for
offering me a project in their esteemed organization and having guided me in the organization.
Finally I thank my family members and friends who helped me in all possible ways to
make this project a success.
SHARMILA.S

4. INTRODUCTION
 A company can shine as a market leader in the competitive world only by delighting
the customer with quality products at competitive rates, matching the requirements of
customers
 The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously
published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it
has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009.[2] The enterprise
employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40 million in 2010.
According to the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2011 The Hindu is the third most
widely read English newspaper in India (after the Times of India and Hindustan
Times) with a readership of 2.0 million people.[3] It has its largest base
of circulation in Southern India, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is the most
widely read English daily in Kerala. Headquartered at Chennai (formerly called
Madras), The Hindu was published weekly when it was launched in 1878, and started
publishing daily in 1889.

5. PROFILE
 The Hindu Group, established in 1878, is a newspaper and magazine
publisher based in Chennai, India. Its flagship titles are The Hindu (an
English language newspaper) and Frontline (an English weekly current
affairs magazine). The Hindu is the third highest English language dailies in
India in terms of readership (IRS, Q4 2010). The group also publishes books
in genres such as children, management, sports, IT, marketing, music, travel,
health and investment   the group recently launched an e-commerce
website in association with indiaplaza.in.
 The Hindu is a leading English language newspaper in India with its largest
base of circulation of South India. It is over 125 years old founded in 1878by
Subramanian Ayer, it was headed by a co-founder Veera Raghavachariar,
Kasturi Iyengar, the legal adviser of the newspaper from 1895, bought it in
1905.Since then his family has retained ownership of the paper. The two
basic principles on which the founders flagged the newspaper were fairness
and justice. The Hindu was published weekly since 1878 and daily since
1889. Its current net paid circulation exceeds 1 million copies. It is said
to enjoy a consumership of 3 million in India and abroad and an annual
turnover of around4 billion rupees ($ 80 million). In 1995 The Hindu
became the first Indian newspaper to offer an online edition.

6. Supplements
 On Mondays
 Metro Plus
 Business Review

 On Tuesdays
 Young World, an exclusive children’s supplement
 Education
 Book Review
 Improve Young English

 On Wednesdays
 Job Opportunities

 On Thursdays
 Metro Plus

 Science, Engineering, Technology & Agriculture
 NXg, a weekly tabloid, started to share the view of “next generation”.

 On Fridays
 Friday Features cinema, arts, music and entertainment

 On Saturdays
 Metro Plus Weekend

 On Sundays
 Weekly Magazine covering social issues, art, literature, gardening, travel health, cuisine, hobbies etc.
 Open Page
 Literary Review, every first Sunday
 Popular Columns include this day that age, The Hindu Crossword and Religion. There is a Sudoku everyday


7.  Metro Plus
 Metro plus throws the spotlight on what happening in the city, events Music Heritage,
Life style, people, fashion, Dining out and sport are the broad categories finding
expression on this supplement’s pages. Capturing the pulse of the city and its changing
lifestyle, it’s later for the information and entertainment needs of cross section
of consumers.
 Education Plus
 A plus is always welcome. It is that extra value that makes good thing better. Education
plus comes to you every Monday with the promise of that bonus, whether you are a
student just entering higher secondary schooling or a college graduate hoping to get the
first break after leaving campus or simply someone who is keen to keep pace with what is
happening in education. Education plus will present and analyses trends in education,
provide pointers, and above all, inform.
 It will report on all that is current and important in the formal and the non-formal
streams as well as in the emerging areas. It will look closely at the local opportunities
and international avenues.
 Property plus
 India’s property sector is a vibrant and growing areas with new initiatives being taken by
government the construction industry, architects and developers to transform the
landscape. Property plus features each week articles, reviews and special columns on the
many facts that more these dramatic changes.

8. History -The Hindu
 The Hindu India’s national newspaper since 1878 published by certain and sons limited, Chennai India. The
English languages daily with a net paid circulation of 1.18 million (ABC July Dec 2008 and a consumership of
4.06, million (NRs 2006) is the best described as classic yet contemporary.
 It is known for the high quality of its journalism and excellent presentation. The newspaper is printed at 12 cities
in India. The Hindu’s Independent editorial stand and it’s reliable and balance presentation of the New.
 The Hindu user modern facilities for news gathering page composition and printing. It is printed in twelve
centers including the main edition at Chennai where the corporate office is bored.
 The printing centres Chennai, Coimbatore, Bangalore, Madurai, Hyderabad, New
Delhi, Vizag, Thiruvanandapuram, Coachi, Vijayavada, Mangalore and Tiruchrapalli are connected with high-
speed data lines for new transmission across the country.
 The digital edition of the Hindu e-paper offers itself nothing less delivery online. You can see each page as it
appear in the print edition. This means all there ports, articles photographs and other graphics have been
organized land our and presented. According to their importance with the appropriate hypography and design
elements. You can also see the advertisement as they appear on the page.
 Three edition of the newspaper Chennai, Hyderabad and Delhi are available in digital form at this first stage.
They are available for viewing at 6.00am Indian Standard Time (1st) every day. Access is free for new but well
required registering online.
 The e-paper has been developed for the Hindu by Nine Stars Information Technology Limited and IBM issuing
stage of the act technology and offering high resolution and versatile features.
 Whole pages articles, photographs and other images can be viewed in ply and SPG format and articles can also be
read as text. You can make use of the internet’s powerful feature search. The e-paper offer you search in several
forms you can look for something specific using the search engine.
 You can also track stories in your areas of internet by setting your preference for “My News” a news tracking
feature you can clip articles and photos for future reference and can E-mail them to a friend.

9. News Agencies
 There are 4 main news agencies in India.
 Press Trust of India (PTI)
 United News of India (UNI)
 Sam char Bharathi (SB)
 Hindustan Sam char (HS)
 While the Press Trust of India is supplying news in English,
the other two are operating through the medium of Hindi
and other Indian languages. Since May 1982, the United
News of India has also launched a new service in Hindi and
the credit line of “UNIVARTA”. Similarly Press Trust of
India has started in1986 a Hindi language news service
called Press Trust of India BHASHA.

10. CONSUMERS PREFERENCES
 “Preference is a person’s feelings of Pleasure of disappointment resulting
from comparing products perceived performance (or outcome) in
relation to his or her expectations”..
 Many companies are aiming for high satisfaction because consumers
who are just satisfied still find it easy to switch when a better offer comes
along. Those who are highly satisfied are much less to switch. High
satisfaction or delight creates an emotional bond with the brand, not
just, a rational preference. The result is high consumer’s loyalty.
 The key to generating high consumer’s loyalty is to deliver high
consumers value According to Michael Lanning, in hi delivering
profitable value; a company must develop a competitively superior value
proposition and a superior value delivery system so that consumer’s
preferences won’t change easily towards the product.
 The brand must represent a promise about the total resulting
experience that consumers can expect. Whether the promise is kept
depends upon the company’s ability to manage its value - delivery
system includes all the communications and channel experiences the
consumers will have on the way to obtaining the offering.

11. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
 To study the preference of the reader with the present
distribution system of newspaper with special
reference to agent newspaper vendors.
 To offer suitable suggestions for enrich the consumer
preference of supplement in The Hindu

12. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study is conducted to know the consumer preference of
supplementary. This may help the company to decide upon
their new ventures or any expansion or modernization of
their business.
The research focuses on the several features of the Hindu
and in awareness, suggestion in the market, which may help
the company in further development of the supplementary.
The research provides a complete feedback on The Hindu
which may offer a sincere backup for their future plans with
respect to design area.

13. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 Research Design
Research Design is descriptive as well as analytical.
 Primary data collection
Primary data was collected with the help of a structured questionnaire. The
questionnaires were administered to the selected 150 respondents.
 Technique of data collection
The questionnaire has been designed and used to collect the needed primary
data. Both open ended and close ended questions were used.
 Area of the study
The study on consumer preference towards has been limited to consumers located
in Chennai only.
 Period of the study
The period of the study covers 4 weeks (July 2012).
 Sources of Data
The validity of any research is based on the data collected for the study. The
present research is based on both primary as well as secondary data. The primary data is
collected from the selected sample respondents in the study area. Simple random
sampling method was used in selecting the respondents.

14.  Questionnaire
 It was the main tool used for collecting the first hand information from
the respondents. Hence, great attention was given to construct the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was prepared with the help of the
research guide. The questions were framed in a sample manner, capable
of being answered easily and quickly by the respondents.
 The study also consists of secondary data, which are collected from
magazines, newspapers and journals and also website.
 Sample Size
The sample size selected for the study is 150 respondents. The
respondents are selected by simple random sampling method.
 Sampling Techniques
Data on the various aspects directly and indirectly related to the
investigation were gathered through questionnaires to the respondents.
The questions are necessary to ensure the reliability of the information.
The questions were simple to understand so that information can be
collected from various respondents easily. It should be seen that parties
are not biased or prejudiced and are mentally sound.

15. Tools for analysis
In order to analyze the consumer preference of respondents, the following tables
of analysis were used to obtain the various objectives of the study.
o (i) Percentage analysis
Percentage refers to a special kind of ratio percentages are used in making
comparing between preferences, awareness and satisfaction with various other factors.
Observed data
Percentage = ------------------------- x 100
Sample size
o (ii)Chi – square Test:
A family of probability distribution, differentiated by this degree of freedom is
used to test a member of different hypothesis about variances, proportions, and
distributional goodness of fit.
Chi-square test (χ^ 2)= ∑(O-E)^2/E
Degree of freedom = (R -1) (C -1)
Wherein,
 O = Refers to the observed frequency
 E = Refers to the expected frequency
 R = Refers to the number of rows
 C = Refers to the number of columns

16. HYPOTHEISIS
 In order to realize that objective of the study the following hypothesis
has been formulated.
 There exists significant relationship between level of preference of age,
gender, educational qualification, income, occupation, and family size.
 The probabilities indicate the extent of reliance that can be placed on
conclusion drawn. The same technique is used in case of chi- square test
and the table value chi- square is available at various probabilities level.
These levels are called level of significance. Usually the value of chi-
square is at 5% level of significance.
 Ho: There is significant relationship between level of preferences of age,
gender, educational qualification, occupation and supplementary copies.
 H1: There is no significant relationship between level of preferences of
age, gender, educational qualification, occupation and supplementary
copies.

17. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
 There is no comparative study made.
 The result of analysis made in the study depends fully
on the accuracy; reliability of information’s given
by respondents.
 The sample size is only 150.
 Under the study illiterate people excluded

18. QUESTIONAIRRE
Name :
Age :
Gender :
Educational Qualification :
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.What’s your occupation?
a)Student
b) employee
c) business person
d)others (specify)
2. Do you have the habit of reading newspaper?
a) Yes
b) No
3. Which newspaper do you read?
a) The Hindu
b) Indian Express
c) Deccan Chronicle
d) Times of India
4. Which supplementary copy of the above selected newspaper do you prefer the most?
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
5. Why do you choose this supplementary?
a)Interesting and innovative
b) Informative
c) Reliable
d) Other (specify)

19. 6. In what aspect do you think this supplementary lacks?
a) coverage of local area news
b) no proper upgradation of news
c)Commercial and advertisement coverage is more
d)others(specify)
7.Do you think it adds value to your knowledge?
a)Yes
b)No
8.Do you think it has relevant information for all age goups?
a)strongly agree
b)agree
c)uncertain
d)disagree
e)strongly disagree
9)What do you think about the quality of information provided in it?
a)excellent
b)good
c)fair
d)uncertain
10)What is the most important criteria when you choose it?
............................................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................

20. 11)Which part in the newspaper is the one you like the most?
a)News
b)Entertainment
c)commercials
d)Others(specify)
12)Which part do you dislike?
..............................................................................................................
13)Do you think that the information provided in the supplementary paper allows you to link closer to your environment and
could effect you personally?
14)What type of contents do you like to see while reading it?
.............................................................................................................
15)Any other Suggestion or
comments?________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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