Consumer decision making is a process that describes how a consumer makes choices. In the paper, “A Scale to Assess the Efficacy of Consumer Decision Making”, the author, Ruchika Sachdeva, makes an attempt to construct a scale on five parameters: problem recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and post-purchase behavior. Using analytical tools like Cronbach’s alpha, correlation, t-test and exploratory factor analysis, the author shows that the scale developed has desirable reliability and validity properties. According to the author, this scale can be used by the aspiring researchers. Despite the fact that the scale has certain limitations like it is skewed to educated and urban youth, its scope can be increased by using questionnaires in local languages.

Indian passenger car market, the sixth largest automobile industry in the world, has entered a new era in marketing—digital marketing—thanks to the presence of about 243.2 million Internet users in the country. The industry’s rapid adoption of online modes and social media platforms has helped it reach the customers in a whole new way. In the study “Cracking the Digital Code: A Study of Indian Car Market”, the author, Rekha Dahiya, attempts to understand the impact of digital marketing communication by car marketers on consumers’ buying-decision process. The author attempts to analyze consumer behavior by understanding the most preferred digital channels of the customers, demographic profile of the customers who use the digital channels while buying a car, and the impact of digital marketing on consumers’ buying-decision process.

In the paper, “The Influence of Availability of Shopping Time on Impulse Purchase Tendency”, the author, Ramesh Kumar Chaturvedi, categorizing the consumers based on time constraint into time-starved shopper and leisure shopper, analyzes which category of consumers would have higher proportion of impulse purchased items in their bill. The findings reveal that the time-starved shoppers purchase more impulsively. The authors conclude that impulse purchase tendency is influenced by the availability of shopping time, but the nature of influence is not linear. The author also shows that in-store factors influence shopping duration in a significant way.

In the final paper, “Marketing Strategies of Small-Scale Milk Producers: A Study in Azamgarh District, Uttar Pradesh”, the author, Kaushlendra Vikram Mishra, attempts to understand the different marketing strategies applied by the small-scale milk producers in their day-to-day business. The author suggests that the small-scale milk producers should form cooperative societies, which can help them to determine the proper marketing mix and also look after their welfare by providing feed, fodder and other services like Artificial Insemination (AI), insurance coverage, and veterinary services at affordable price at the doorsteps of small milk producers. The paper concludes that governments and the concerned agencies should take the initiative to assist the small-scale milk producers in forming milk cooperative societies, which will not only increase their collective marketing strength, but also provide regular and assured income to the poor dairy farmers.

-- B Shafiulla
Consulting Editor