INTRODUCTION:

In India, gold is considered as a glamorous metal and as a status symbol among the people. It tends to have religious as well as cultural significance. India is deemed to be the hub of the global jewellery market. The Jewellery sector in India plays a significant role in the economy which contributes around 7 percent in the GDP and 15.71 percent in India’s total merchandise exports. It is also provides employment to over 4.64 million workers. This sector is contributing in a big way to the country’s foreign exchange earnings. The average annual consumption of gold in India is between 700 and 800 tonnes.

The jewellery sector in India is highly unorganised having only 4-5 percent share as organized. So, it provides an opportunity to organied gold jewelers can to enter into the Indian market. Now there are more than 15,000 players across the country in this sector. There are about 4,50,000 goldsmiths spread throughout the country. There are numerous of national players who are engaged in organised sector such as Tata (Tanishq), Peacock Jewelers Private Ltd., Joy Aluklas, etc. Multi-national jewellery brands such as Tiffany, Christian Dior, Bvlgari, Harry Winston and Zales are to be entered after the approval the Government. There are numerous factors which motivates the customers to buy branded jewellery over unbranded jewellery. These factors includes attractive and innovative designs, better quality, purity, variety, durability, lightweight, comfortability to wear, uniqueness, trust, specific product benefits or shopping experience, status symbol, etc. Hence, these factors are affecting the behaviour of the customers in purchasing jewellery. With this background, the present study focused on the attitude of gold buyers towards branded and non-branded jewellery.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Jain (2013) found that female customers are becoming more aware about branded jewellery. Berad et al. (2015) have identified that design, price, purity, image, variety, display, service, promotion and offers, family and friends are the major factors influencing purchase decision of gold jewellery. Hence, most of the respondents were prefer to buy in branded jewellery. Gomathy and Devi (2015) have examined that maximum number of buyers are aware about branded jewellery. Rawal (2015) has examined gold buyers are prefer to select branded jewellery products from the branded shops. Ramachandran and Karthick (2014) found that branded jewellery products have a unique style and more varieties compared with the unbranded jewellery. The study conducted by Jyothi and Babu (2014) and Raju and Kumar (2013) have identified that gold purity, varieties, brand image, service quality, advertisement, brand familiarity, promotional schemes, offers, celebrity endorsement are the major factors which affect the behaviour of the buyers. Asha and Christopher (2014) identified that majority of the customers purchase gold jewellery in the occasion of marriages, anniversaries, birthdays, festivals and offers. Vadra and Malhotra (2014) examined that the buying behaviour was highly influenced by jewellery designs in the branded showrooms. Walia et al. (2013) identified the factors which inspire the consumer to buy in the branded jewellery such as quality, status, buy back schemes, certification of gold and zero installment schemes.

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY:

The Erode city is witnessed the rapid growth in the field of handmade jewellery in the past many decades. Now, this city is facing a cut-throat competition and challenge from the branded jewellery. This is further boosted by a few local manufacturers and traders initiating the concept of retail branding. Thus, the need has arisen to conduct a perception study of buyers on branded jewellery to measure the future of this line of business and also to study the future of direction and strategies being adopted by the existing traders to face the completions from the branded jewellery. Hence, the outcome of this study will be of immense help to the owners of gold jewellers in understanding the choices and preferences of buyers, the criteria adopted by buyers in selecting a particular jeweller, in adopting a suitable pricing strategy, and in devising suitable marketing strategies, so as to serve their customers in a better way.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

Gold is a time tested asset. Even when the price increases, people never hesitated to purchase it. Gold has been traditionally the desired asset for Indians. India is being the world’s second largest gold jewellery market. According to World Gold Council, about 10 percent of world’s gold is in India’s possession. Gold is not just a mere investment for Indians. It is intertwined into the fabric of the Indian culture, traditions and religious beliefs. It is also considered as a status symbol which useful in measuring the wealth of a person in the society. The branded gold jewellery division occupies a significant share in the total jewellery market. It is due to the most of the Indian buyers still considers jewellery as an investment. The attitudes and perceptions of buyers of gold jewellery as drastically changed. Most of the Indian jewellery buyers are getting more and more trend conscious. In this changing scenario, well-defined, strategic marketing policies are need for creating brand image among the people.

There is limited number of researches carried out to discover the gold jewellery in particular the branded gold jewellery which falls under organized sector. 85 percent of the gold jewellery is still conquered by unorganised gold jewellery sector. Thus this study analyses the various perceptional aspects of gold buyers which influence in purchasing the branded gold jewellery and thereby help to design a suitable market strategies to promote the sale of branded gold jewellery. Based on the aforesaid issues, the following research questions have been probed:

· What is the basis for selection of gold jeweller?

· What is the level of the satisfaction of buyers towards gold jewellers?

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

The study has been carried out with the following objectives:

i) To know the criteria for selection of gold jewellers.

ii) To identify the reasons for preferring branded and Non-branded gold jewellers.

iii) To measure the statisfaction level of buyers towards gold jewellers.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The descriptive research method is used to analyse the consumer preference for branded gold jewellery over unbranded gold jewellery. Both primary and secondary sources of data have been used. A well-structured questionnaire used to collect the required data from the respondents. The questionnaire comprises gold consumption pattern, reasons for purchasing from non-branded gold jewellers and level of satisfaction towards preferred gold jeweller. The secondary data has been collected from the books, journals, web portals, etc. The sample size of 140 respondents conveniently selected to collect the necessary data from the gold purchasers in Erode City. The data collected from the respondents have been coded and tabulated to suit the requirement of the study. Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) have been used for analysing the data. The statistical tools such as Description Statistics, Friedman’s test, K-means cluster analysis and Chi-square test have been used to analyse and interpret the data.

GOLD PURCHASE PATTERN OF BUYERS:

In this section, gold purchase pattern of buyers is analysed with respect to their amount invested in gold, frequency of purchase, influencer in the purchase decision, reasons for purchasing gold, type of gold jewellery purchased, criteria for selection of gold jewellery, preferred gold jewellery and reasons for preferring a particular gold jeweller.

Table 1: Amount Invested in Gold

Amount Invested in Gold	Frequency	Percent
Below 1,00,000	29	20.71
1,00,001-2,00,000	46	32.9
2,00,001- 3,00,000	45	32.1
Above 3,00,000	20	14.28
Total	140	100.0

The amount invested in gold by the respondents depicts that 32.9 percent have invested 1,00,001-2,00,000, 32.1 percent have invested between 2,00,001-3,00,000, 20.71 percent invested less than 1,00,000 and 14.28 percent have invested more than 3,00,000 in gold (Table - 1).

Table - 2: Frequency of Purchasing Gold

Frequency of Purchase	Frequency	Percent
Monthly	11	7.9
Yearly	66	47.1
Occasionally	63	45.0
Total	140	100.0

Frequency of purchasing gold revealed that the 47.1 percent of the respondents have been purchasing gold once in a year followed by 45 percent have been purchasing occasionally and 7.9 percent have been purchasing once in a month (Table - 2).

Table 3: Reasons for Gold Purchase

Reasons	Frequency	Percent
Marriage	30	21.4
Gift	19	13.5
Investment	25	17.8
Personal aspiration	20	14.0
Status	28	20.0
Festival	18	12.8
Total	140	100.0

The reasons for purchasing gold indicates that 21.4 percent of the respondents have purchased gold for marriage, 20 percent have purchased gold on auspicious occasions like family functions, Akshayathirudhi, etc., 17.85 percent have purchased gold for investment purposes, 14.28 percent have purchased gold for their personal aspiration, 13.5 percent have purchased gold for gifting to friends and 12.85 percent have purchased gold during festival occasions (Table - 3).

Table 4: Type of Gold Jewellery Purchased

Type of Jewellery	Always	Sometimes	Never	Total
Stud /Earrings	11	77	52	140
Bangles / Bracelets	14	73	53	140
Finger rings	26	62	51	140
Necklace / Chains	67	46	27	140
Coins	12	25	93	140
Others	20	65	55	140

The type of gold jewellery preferred by the respondents shows that majority of the buyers have purchased finger rings, followed by stud/ earrings, coins, bangles/bracelets and necklace/ chains (Table - 4).

Table 5: Criteria for Selection of Gold Jewellery

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	Mean Rank	x² Test	Sig
Quality of gold	3.66	1.227	3.84	28.418	.000
Workmanship	3.51	1.226	3.40
Comfort of wearing	3.85	1.229	4.01
Price	3.41	1.275	3.37
Antique value	3.31	1.270	3.19
Trendy	3.34	1.301	3.20

The result of Friedman’s Chi-square test shows that there is a significant difference found in the criteria for selection of gold jewellery (P=<0.05). The mean rank revealed the fact that the comfort of wearing, quality of gold, workmanship, price, trendy and antique value are the prime factors considered at the time of selecting gold jewellery (Table - 5).

GOLD PURCHASERS’ PREFERENCE TOWARDS BRANDED AND NON-BRANDED JEWELLERS:

Buying preference is a process, wherein various available mutually exclusive alternatives for buying are evaluated by the buyers. It can generally be made by the respondents after thoroughly scrutinizes the pros and cons of each alternatives. Keeping in mind, preferred jeweller, reasons for preferring a particular jeweler, sources of information about gold jewellers, and satisfaction towards preferred gold jeweller have been taken into consideration.

Table 6: Preferred Gold Jeweller

Preferred Jeweller	Frequency	Percent
Branded	82	58.57
Non-branded	58	41.42
Total	140	100.0

Most of the gold purchasers (58.57 percent) have preferred to purchase from branded gold jewellers and 41.42 percent of the gold purchasers have preferred non-Branded gold jewellers (Table - 6).

Table 7: Reasons for Purchasing Gold from Branded Jewellers

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	Mean Rank	x² Test	Sig.
Reliability	3.96	1.079	4.33	26.446	.000
Competitive price	3.83	1.112	4.19
Goodwill	4.34	.828	5.22
Advertisement	4.17	1.079	4.90
Reasonable wastage and Making charges	3.85	1.314	4.38
Wide range of collections	3.87	1.168	4.28
Brand image	3.89	1.245	4.34
Quality	3.84	1.248	4.37

The result of Friedman’s Chi-Square test shows that there is a significant difference (P=<0.05) found in the reasons for purchasing gold from the branded jewellers (Table - 7). Goodwill is a major reason for buying gold from the branded jeweller (Mean Rank= 5.22), followed by advertisements (Mean Rank=4.90), reasonable wastage and making charges (Mean Rank=4.38), quality (Mean Rank=4.37), brand image (Mean Rank=4.34) and competitive price (Mean Rank=4.19).

Table 8: Reasons for Purchasing Gold from Non-branded Jewellers

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	Mean Rank	X² Test	Sig.
Able to order designs according to my desire	3.84	1.148	3.76	13.909	.000
Free from taxes	3.57	1.067	3.37
Hereditary bonding	3.83	1.193	3.72
Better Payment terms of local Jewellers	3.39	1.273	3.11
Low making charges	3.56	1.337	3.50

The result of Friedman’s Chi-Square test shows that there is a significant difference (P=<0.05) found in the reasons for purchasing from non-branded gold jewellers (Table - 8). The prime reason for purchasing gold from the non-branded jewellers is buyers can able to order designs according to their desire (Mean Rank=3.76), followed by hereditary bonding (Mean Rank=3.72), low making charges (Mean Rank=3.50) and free from taxes (Mean Rank=3.37).

Table 9: Preferred Gold Jewellers

Gold Jewellers	Frequency	Percent
Malabar gold	20	14.3
Tata Gold	31	22.1
Kalyan jewellers	19	13.6
Joy Alukkas	30	21.4
AVR Swarna Mahal	25	17.9
Others	15	10.7
Total	140	100.0

The preferred jeweller for purchasing gold indicates that 22.1 percent have preferred Tata Gold, 21.4 percent have preferred Joy Alukkas, 17.9 percent have preferred AVR Swarna Mahal, 14.3 percent have preferred Malabar Gold and 13.6 percent have preferred Kalyan Jewellers and 10.7 percent selected in other show rooms (Table - 9).

Table 10: Sources of Information about Gold Jewellers

Sources of Information	Frequency	Percent
Friends / Relatives	52	37.1
News papers and Magazines	48	34.3
Radio / Television	20	14.3
Hoardings and Banners	20	14.3
Total	140	100.0

In the various sources of information, friends and relatives (37.1 percent) constitute a major source of information, followed by Radio/ Television, hoardings and banners and newspapers and magazines (Table - 10).

BUYERS’ SATISFACTION WITH GOLD JEWELLERS:

Satisfaction is a person’s feeling of pleasure or dissatisfaction and whether the buyer is satisfied after purchase depends upon the performance of products in relation to expectations of the buyers. If the performance is not up to the expectations, the buyer is dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the buyer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds the expectations of a buyer is highly satisfied or delighted. The level of satisfaction of gold buyers might be varied with products and services offered by the Jewellers. In this connection, non-parametric Friedman’s test has been used to find out the significant difference in the buyers’ satisfaction with gold Jewellers.

Table 11: Buyers’ Satisfaction towards Gold Jewellers

Variables	Mean	Std. Deviation	Mean Rank	X² Test	Sig.
Wide range of collections	3.64	1.415	5.48	37.175	.000
Wastage and Making charges	3.36	1.288	4.58
Exchange offers	3.81	1.256	5.55
Discounts and free gifts	4.14	.941	6.29
Store atmosphere	3.63	1.153	5.07
Purity and Quality of gold	3.98	1.028	5.86
Salesman responsiveness	3.68	1.183	5.14
Price	3.91	1.065	5.58
Service quality	3.89	1.145	5.69
Advertisement	3.96	1.082	5.76

The result of Friedman’s Chi-Square test shows that there is a significant difference (P=<0.05) found in the buyers’ satisfaction towards gold Jewellers (Table - 11). The mean ranks revealed the fact that the buyers are more satisfied with discounts and free gifts (Mean Rank=6.29) followed by purity and quality of gold (Mean Rank=5.86) and price (Mean Rank=5.58). The buyers are more dissatisfied with wastage and making charges (Mean Rank=4.58).

CLASSIFICATION OF PURCHASERS’ SATISFACTION TOWARDS GOLD JEWELLERS:

In this section the classification of different type of clusters based on attitude of gold purchasers towards jewellers. K-means cluster analysis is applied to identify heterogeneous groups of gold purchasers. This analysis is helpful to identify the different groups of gold purchasers with homogeneous qualities.

Table 12: Level of Satisfaction with Gold Jewellers

Level of Satisfaction	Frequency	Percent
Medium	38	27.1
High	65	46.5
Low	37	26.4
Total	140	100.0

The final cluster centre table revealed that there exist three heterogeneous groups of gold purchasers based on their satisfaction with jewellers. The second cluster of buyers of 46.4 percent are in the high level of satisfaction with their jewellers, 27.1 percent of the buyers are in the moderate level satisfaction and 26.4 percent of them in the low level of satisfaction with their preferred jewellers (Table - 12).

Table - 13: Preferred Gold Jeweller and Level of Satisfaction with Preferred Gold Jeweller

Preferred Jeweller		Level of Satisfaction			Total
Preferred Jeweller		Medium	High	Low	Total
Branded	F	9	52	21	82
Branded	%	11.0	63.4	25.6	100.0
Non-Branded	F	29	13	16	58
Non-Branded	%	50.0	22.4	27.6	100.0
Total	F	38	65	37	140
Total	%	27.1	46.5	26.4	100

Preferred gold jeweller and level of satisfaction with gold jewellers indicates that 63.4 percent of buyers of branded stores are in the high level of satisfaction (Table - 13).

Table – 14: Association between Preferred Gold Jeweller and Level of Satisfaction with Preferred Gold Jeweller

Tests	Value	df	Sig.
Pearson Chi-Square	12.257	1	.000
Likelihood Ratio	12.610	1	.002
Linear-by-Linear Association	3.826	1	.040

Hypothesis:

There is no association between the preferred gold jeweller and satisfaction of gold buyers.

The chi-square test reveals that the Pearson chi-square value is equal to 12.257 and likelihood ratio of 12.610 along with linear by linear association of 3.826. All the probabilistic values are significant at 5 percent level (P=<0.05). Hence, the null hypothesis is rejected. Therefore, it is concluded that there is an association found between preferred gold Jeweller and level of satisfaction (Table - 14).

CONCLUSION:

The branded Jewellery segment occupies only a meagre share of the total Jewellery market in India. Today, the branded Jewellers are spread throughout the country, meeting the demands of the consumers from all parts of the country. The study proved that goodwill, reasonable wastage and making charges, reliability, quality, brand image, advertisement, wide range of collections and competitive price are the base for the selection of branded store. The study findings will explicitly serve as an eye-opener for the gold jewellers to understand the attitude of the buyers.

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Received on 08.06.2018 Modified on 18.07.2018

Int. J. Rev. and Res. Social Sci. 2018; 6(3): 261-266.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2687.2018.00025.4