A Study of Customer Satisfaction of Selected DTH Services ...

SUMEDHA Journal of Management

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Abstract

All the activities of a business enterprises i.e. raising of capital, installation of

plant & machinery, recruitment of employees, constructing building premises,

manufacturing products or rendering services etc. are done in the convenience of

customers and he is a central point in every business & it is hence important to check

or to verify whether the customers are satisfied or not.

The present study tries to find out the level of satisfaction of customers regarding

some selected DTH companies. This study also tries to analyze the factors which

affects on selection process of customers when they are buying different type of brand.

The Primary data required for the present study is collected by administering

Customer Satisfaction Questionnaires and also by taking interview & discussions of

DTH users and DTH retailers. The Secondary data required for the present study is

collected from various types of reference books, newspapers, journals, periodicals and

from variety of Websites of various authorities. The data so collected is analyzed and

presented by using percentage, ratios, charts, graphs, pie-charts etc.

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction, DTH Services, Service Quality, STB etc.

Introduction

The customer is a central point in every business & it is hence important to check

or to verify whether the customers are satisfied or not. The present study tries to findout the level of satisfaction of customers regarding some selected DTH companies. Thisstudy also tries to analyze the factors affecting selection of DTH Brand, Source of

* Asso. Professor, Chairman BBA BOS and Member Academic Council, University of Pune., HOD & Vice-Principal,

A.W.College, Otur, Tal-Junnar, Dist-Pune, Maharashtra. Pin No. 412409.e-mail ID: [email protected]

** Assistant Professor, A.W.College, Otur, Tal-Junnar, Dist-Pune, Maharashtra. Pin No. 412409.

E-mail ID: [email protected]

A Study of Customer Satisfaction of Selected DTH Serviceswith a Special Reference to Junnar Taluka (Dist - Pune,

Maharashtra)

– Dr. Dumbre G. M. *

– Prof. Kaldante K. H.**

Vol.3, No.4, Oct-Dec. 2014

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Awareness about DTH Services, Popularity of Selected DTH services and Mode ofRecharging DTH A/C and finally it compares the performance of DTH with Cable TV.

Research Methodology

Statement of Problem

Some of the problems faced by the DTH users are less quality of dish and are, notproviding more free channels, less clarity, high subscription amount and unable to seethe local channels and so on.

Need and Importance of Study

1. This research is useful to verify and to detect whether the customers are satisfied

by the services provided by DTH service providers.

2. This study also helps to detect the reasons of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of

customers.

3. The present study also useful to find out the factors which influence the customers

purchasing decisions.

4. This study also suggests ways for enhancement in the customer satisfaction of

DTH service users which are very useful to all DTH service providers.

5. The study also detects the most popular brand of DTH in Junnar Taluka.

Objectives of the Study

1. To evaluate the level of customer satisfaction of the selected DTH service providers.

2. To study the factors affecting selection of DTH Brand.

3. To study the source of awareness about the DTH services offers, discounts etc.

4. To evaluate the popularity of selected brands of DTH services.

5. To offer some suggestions for improvement in the level of customer satisfaction

and in the performance.

Statement of Hypothesis

1. It is believed that the customers using DTH services are satisfied in terms of Price,

Service Quality, Flexibility, Availability, Variety and Customer Care & after Sales Services.

2. The perception of customers regarding various DTH services are differs in Price, Service

Quality, Flexibility, Availability, Variety and Customer Care & after Sales Services.


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3. It is necessary to establish benchmarks for Price, Service Quality etc. of DTH

services.

Sources of Data Collection

The main sources through which data is collected are as follows-

Primary Data

The primary data requires for the study is collected by taking interviews of DTHusers and also by discussion with the customers and with the DTH retailers. The

information related with the Customer Satisfaction level & customer Perception iscollected with the help of 'Questionnaires'. Some of the information required is alsocollected by observations and by surveys to various places within study area.

Secondary data

Secondary data required for the study is collected from various types of ReferenceBooks, journals, periodicals, news papers, magazines, reports etc. Various types of

websites will also being used to collect some updated & recent information. No. ofPh.D. thesis, M. Phil. dissertations and Research papers are also referred for collectingrelevant information.

Population

The population of the study includes all DTH users in the Junnar Taluka, but it isobserved that, population of DTH service users is very large and huge. The population

cannot be quantified to exact numbers; there is lack of time and to make study moreprecise some respondents are selected as sample for conducting the survey.

Sample

Considering the huge size of population, it is not possible to collect the informationfrom each and every DTH user. So, some of the customers are selected as sample forconducting the research survey.

Area of study - Junnar Taluka

Sr. No. Parameter for selection (Strata’s) No. of Respondents

1. Tata Sky 40

2. Dish TV 40

3. Videocon 40

4. Airtel 40

Grand Total – (Total Sample Size) 160


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Tools of data analysis and interpretation

The data is analyzed and presented with the help of graphs, charts, diagrams,

tables, pie charts etc. Various types of mathematical tools and statistical tools are beused to analyzed and simplify the data such as ratios, percentage.

Scope and Limitations of the Study

1. The present study is related only with the selected DTH companies i.e. Tata Sky,

Dish TV, Airtel and Videocon.

2. The results of this study will not universally applicable to the entire country because,

the research area is limited only to Junnar taluka (District - Pune, Maharashtra)

3. The study is entirely based on the information given by the customers and hence,

there are some chances of getting misleading information.

4. Lack of time & other resources and to make the study more convenient & specific

all the universe of customers is not taken into consideration but only some samples

are selected from it.

What is DTH?

DTH stands for Direct-To-Home television. DTH is defined as the reception of

satellite programs with a personal Dish Antenna in an individual home. It is a system,that allows to have a personal Dish Antenna how cable operators do, except it is muchsmaller in size, this Antenna can be fixed on your terrace receives transmission directly

from a satellite, hence it is called as a Direct-To-Home service.

How does it work? A DTH network consists of a broadcasting centre, satellites,

encoders, multiplexers, modulators and DTH receivers. A DTH service provider has tolease ku-band transponders from the satellite. The encoder converts the audio, videoand data signals. At the user end, there will be a small dish.


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Current Market Share and Subscribers of various DTH companies in India

Sr. No. DTH Service Provider Market share Subscribers

1. Dish TV 31% 110 Lakh

2. Airtel Digital TV 17% 56 Lakh

3. Tata Sky 19% 60 Lakh

4. Videocon D2H 16% 55 Lakh

5. Big TV 08% 36 Lakh

6. Sun Direct 07% 30 Lakh

7. DD Di 02% 09 Lakh

[Source : RIJM (Radix International Journal of Research in Marketing, Volume 1, Issue 9th September 2012]

Tata Sky

Tata Sky is a joint venture between the Tata group, that owns 60% and STAR

Group that owns a 30% stake. Tata Sky was incorporated in 2004 but was launchedonly in 2006. It currently offers close to 196 channels (as of December 2013) and someinteractive ones, this count include some numbers of HD channels offered by Tata Sky

(as Tata Sky-HD) and interactive services also.

Dish TV

DTH service was launched back in 2004 by launching of Dish TV by Essel Group'sZee Entertainment Enterprises. In October 2010, Dish TV added the long awaited Neo

Sports and Neo Cricket on its platform. The company provides around 225 channels,highest in numbers in this segment. It also provides games, interactive TV, Movies onDemand, etc.

Airtel Digital

Airtel digital was launched on 8th October, 2008. Air-Tel digital TV's standarddefinition broadcasts are in MPEG-4 with Interactive Service. Interactive Service of Air-Tel digital TV includes an add-on service which allows a user to shop, book movie

tickets etc. A universal remote is included in the package which can, over IR frequenciescontrol both the TV and the DTH box. Like other DTH service provider it also providesa Video on demand interactive service which includes a catalogue of movies in Hindi,

English and other regional languages which can be ordered on demand.

Videocon

Videocon D2H is a DTH satellite television provider in India based in Mumbai,using MPEG-4 with DV B S2 digital compression technology. Videocon d2h launched


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in May 1st , 2009 it came with a very good strategy for selling both of its electronicproducts like TV's, DVD's along with the new Set-Top-Box.

Definitions of the term 'Customer Satisfaction'

Customer satisfaction is "an evaluation that the chosen alternative is consistent

with prior beliefs with respect to that alternative" - Definition by Engel and Blackwell(1982).

Tse and Wilton (1988) define as, "the consumer's response to the evaluation of theperceived discrepancy between prior expectations (or some other norm of performance)

and the actual performance of the product/service as perceived after its consumption".

Analysis and Interpretation of Data:

Table: 1. Profile of the Respondents

Parameter TATA Sky Dish TV Airtel Videocon Total %

1. Region

North 17 07 02 12 38 24%

South 08 21 08 04 41 26%

East 09 05 11 13 38 24%

West 06 07 19 11 43 26%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100 %

2. Age

18-30 years 07 16 07 13 43 27%

31-40 years 23 10 19 13 65 41%

41-50 years 08 09 14 08 39 24%

Above 50 02 05 00 06 13 08%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100 %

3. Gender

Male 26 12 32 27 97 61%

Female 14 28 08 13 63 39%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100 %

4. Employment

Farmer 16 28 17 21 82 51%

Govt. Servant 02 00 08 03 13 08%

Private

Employment

09 04 03 07 23 14%


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Parameter TATA Sky Dish TV Airtel Videocon Total %

Self Employment 13 08 11 06 38 24%

Unemployed 00 00 01 03 04 03%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100

5. Average Annual Income

Up to 50,000 00 01 02 04 07 04%

50,000-1,00,000 15 22 16 12 65 41%

1,00,000-1,50,000 19 08 20 16 63 39%

Above 1,50,000 06 09 02 08 25 16%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100

6.No. of Family Members

Two 06 00 00 03 09 06%

Three 16 15 10 06 47 29%

Four 11 16 09 17 53 33%

More than Four 07 09 21 14 51 32%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100

7. Qualification

Below SSC 08 13 08 14 43 27%

SSC 06 05 01 13 25 16%

HSC 09 11 16 06 42 26%

Graduate 07 04 09 00 20 12%

Above

Graduation

06 00 01 02 09 06%

Illiterate 04 07 05 05 21 13%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100 %

Table: 2. Overall Satisfactions

Sr.

No.

Satisfaction

Level

Tata

Sky

Dish

TV

Airtel

Digital Videocon Total %

1. Satisfactory 25 14 31 36 106 66%

2. Neutral 01 09 08 02 20 12%

3. Dissatisfactory 14 17 01 02 34 22%

Total - 40 40 40 40 160 100%


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Graph: 2. Overall Satisfactions

Overall opinion - The table no. 2 shows that, up to 66% of the customers aresatisfied and up to 19% customers are dissatisfied with the overall Performance of the

selected DTH service providers.

Opinions about Tata Sky - the majority of customers are satisfied.

Opinion about Dish TV - the condition is even-steven.

Opinions about Airtel - the majority of customers are satisfied.

Opinions about Videocon - the majority of customers are satisfied.

Table: 3. Factors affecting the selection of DTH Brand

Sr. No. Factor’s No. of Respondents %

1. Brand 06 04%

2. Price 59 37%

3. Packaging 05 03%

4. Availability 00 00%

5. Facilities 14 09%

6. Quality 34 21%

7. No. Channels in Package 42 26%

Total - 160 100%


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4%

37%

3%0%

9%

21%

26%

Brand

Price

Packaging

Availability

Facilities

Quality

No. Channels

in Package

Graph: 3. Factors affecting the selection of DTH Brand

The above table no. 3. reveals that, about 37% of customers select a particular

DTH brand because of its Price, 26% due to No. of channels and 21% due to Quality.Only 04% of the customers give importance to the brand while selection of DTH operator.

Table: 4. Source of Awareness about DTH service Providers offers, brands, discounts,packages and other VAS

Sr. No. Factor’s No. of Respondents %

1. TV or Radio Advt. 83 52%

2. Newspaper 42 26%

3. Internet 14 09%

4. Family or Friends 18 11%

5. Others 03 02%

Total - 160 100%

Graph: 4. Source of Awareness about DTH service Providers offers, brands, discounts,packages and other VAS:


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The above table no. 4 indicates that, the very popular source of awareness aboutDTH services is TV or Radio Advt. (52%), the next popular source is Newspaper (26%).11% of the peoples are aware about DTH from family and friends and only 09% of the

customers are from Internet.

Table: 5. Popularity Level of selected DTH services

Sr. No. DTH Company No. of Respondents %

1. Tata Sky 34 21%

2. Dish TV 22 14%

3. Airtel 54 34%

4. Videocon 50 31%

Total - 160 100%

Graph: 5. Popularity Level of selected DTH services

The table no. 5 shows that the most popular brand of DTH is Airtel havingpopularity up to 34%, followed by Videocon whose popularity is 31%. The Tata Sky ispopular up to 21% and Dish TV is least popular in Junnar Taluka having popularity

percentage of 14%.

Table: 6. Comparison of Performances 'DTH v/s Cable TV':(Do you think that DTH services are better than local cable TV services?)

Sr. No. Scale No. of Respondents %

1. Agree 91 57%

2. Neutral 21 13%

3. Disagree 48 30%

Total - 160 100%


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Graph: 6. Comparison of Performances 'DTH v/s Cable TV'

The table no. 6 discloses that 57% of the users think that the performance of DTHis better than that of the performance of the Cable TV, 13% doesn't give any responseand remaining 30% think the cable TV performance is better.

Table: 7. Mode of Recharging DTH Account

Sr. No. Mode of Recharging No. of Respondents %

1. Through Phones 43 27%

2. Through Internet 10 06%

3. In Recharge point Centre 102 64%

4. Through Debit / Credit Card 5 03%

Total - 160 100%

Graph: 7. Mode of Recharging DTH Account


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The table indicates that most of the DTH users (64%) recharge their DTH accountthrough Recharge Point Centre, the second most popular way of recharging DTHaccount is phone followed by internet (06%). According to the research only 03% of the

users recharge their account through Debit/Credit Card.

Summary of Finding

Some of the major findings of this Research are grouped and summarized asfollows -

1. The Table-3 reveals that, 37% of customers select a particular DTH brand because

of its Price, 26% due to No. of channels and 21% due to Quality.

2. The Table-4 also indicates that, the very popular source of awareness about DTH

services is TV or Radio Advt. (52%), the next popular source is Newspaper (26%).

3. The Table-5 discovers that, the most popular brand of DTH is Airtel having

popularity up to 34%, followed by Videocon whose popularity is 31%. The Tata

Sky is popular up to 21% and Dish TV is least popular in Junnar Taluka having

popularity percentage of 14%.

4. The table-6 discloses that 57% of the users think that the performance of DTH is

better than that of the performance of the Cable TV, 13% doesn't give any response

and remaining 30% think the cable TV performance is better.

5. The Table-7 that most of the DTH users recharge their DTH account through

Recharge Point Centre and through phone. According to the research only 06%

of customers recharge their account through internet and 03% through Debit/

Credit Card.

Summary of Conclusions

From the research it is concluded that the DTH industry is one of the most rapidlydeveloping industry in India. Due to the dynamic and developing nature of DTH industry

there is an immense opportunity for new entrepreneurs in DTH industry. For capturingthis recently developed market and to maintain stable growth the business should haveto provide better services to the customers especially in the semi-urban and rural areas.

With the existing market opportunities, companies have to differentiate not only in theprice level but also in service quality. Today's customer is sensitive to price as well as toquality also. DTH industries have a very bright opportunity in the future years.

The increasing consumer awareness and expectations also make it difficult to satisfythe consumer. Customers have started demanding for better technology and as per the this


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study it is very clear that as far as the Service Quality is concerned DTH has won an Oscar,but with certain areas it requires concerns and improvements such as., Packages, choice ofchannels and charges, Prompt information about the services, Continuity of service etc.

Suggestions & Recommendations

After conducting this research in Junnar Taluka about the customer satisfactionof DTH users, the following are some vital suggestions offered to DTH industry formaintaining and improving their customer satisfaction & for capturing more market

share.

1. From the research it is observed that the customers are not satisfied with the Cost

of installation & package cost of selected DTH services, hence the service providers

have to reduce their service charges & they also have to offer the customers different

types of exiting offers, discounts, free channels like MOD Channels etc for

improving their customer satisfaction about Cost or price.

2. Attractive gifts for the customer should be made during seasonal period and these

offers should be properly advertised. Both advertisement and offers are capable

of catching the attraction of customer.

3. The present study brings into light the fact that the customers are not very much

satisfied with the customer care & after sales services of the DTH service providers.

Therefore the DTH service providers need to expand their customer care services

by opening some additional 'Customer Grievance Cell' on a suitable spot where

the customer can reach easily for resolving their queries.

4. There should be proper communication system between customer and service

provider.

5. DTH service providers should always stand on offering the best quality of service.

Bibliography or Webliography

A) Books

1. Jauhari Vinnie and Dutta Kirti, 'Services: marketing, operations and management', OxfordUniversity Press, (2009) First Edition.

2. Zeithaml V. A., Gremler D. D. and others, 'Service Marketing', Tata McGraw-Hill Companies,(2009) Fifth Edition.

3. Rampal M. K. and Gupta S. L., 'Service Marketing', Galgotia Publishing Company, (2006)Fifth Edition.


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4. Saxena Ranjan, 'Marketing Management', Tata Mc Graw-Hill Publishing Co. Ltd, NewDelhi.

5. Kothari C R , 'Research Methodology', New Age publication , New Delhi 2008.

B) Journals

1. International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services & Management Research' (Vol.1 No.3, March 2012, ISSN 2277 3622).

2. National Monthly Refereed Journal of Research in Commerce & Management (Volume III,January'14 ISSN - 2277-1166).

3. Indian Journal of Marketing.

4. Radix International Journal of Research in Marketing, Volume 1, Issue 9th September 2012.

5. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (p-ISSN: 2319-7668).

C) Websites

1. www.dth.com

2. www.dthtvindia.wordpress.com

3. www.sundirect.com

4. www.bigtv.com

5. www.airteldigitaltv.com

6. www.tatasky.com

7. www.dishonline.com,www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com, www.indianresearchjournals.com

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