A Study on Branded Engine Oil

Usage and Customer Satisfaction

in Coimbatore”
INTRODUCTION

In recent years, scholarship devoted considerable effort to understanding the processes behind
customers’ purchase decisions. A large portion of this research focused on two basic aspects:
information acquisition and information integration. Pre-purchase information search is a critical
step in the buying process of consumers, especially in the case of highly involving products and
services. Over the years, marketing researchers allocated much work to investigating consumer
information-seeking behavior (Mourali, Laroche, & Pons, 2005). Knowing what the consumer
preferences are is the Holy Grail for almost all manufacturers and retailers that are subjected to the
market competition. Each product and each market have their own challenges in that regard. There
is a much different decision process when a consumer considers buying inexpensive and frequently
purchased products than when the opposite is the case. The complexity is still multiplied by the
other dimensions, e.g., whether the consumer is equipped with enough knowledge to make an
informed decision, whether there are any time constrains, or whether the decision will have any
long-lasting impact on the consumer’s well-being. As a result, research outcomes obtained for a
particular product and market may not be directly transferable to the different product on the same
market or even the same product but on a different market. This is a highly undesirable observation,
as it causes the need for considerable expenditures towards marketing research. The same holds
true even for infrequently purchased products, as in the case of our research: consumer car engine
oils. The producers of engine oils, as any other producers, need to know what the main drivers of
consumer choices are in order to successfully compete and increase their market share and
profitability. Moreover, consumers are rarely a homogenous group with strongly focused
preferences. More frequently consumers are heterogeneous with regard to their preferences, with
a number of segments and their sizes typically unknown a priori. Unfortunately, the petrochemical
literature is rather scarce in this regard. That is the main reason why we selected this particular
research topic and conducted a study on 200 respondents from Poland and the Czech Republic.

1.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

➢To study on socio-economic status of the respondents.
➢ To find out the various factors influencing customer towards branded engine Oil in
Coimbatore.
➢ To study the level of satisfaction of customers usage on engine oil.
➢ To analysis what are all the problems facing by customer usage of engine oil.

1.2 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

The study is mainly focused on the satisfaction level and problems of the customer from the
services offered by usage of lubricant engine oil. Every aspect related to lubricant engine oil like
extra millage, performance, quality, focus on brand name etc., are studied at different level of the
research. The sample population is chosen from Coimbatore city and also the find out the
satisfaction level and problems faces by the customers.

1.3 BRANDS OF ENGINE OILS

➢Bajaj dtsi

➢ Motul

➢ Shell

➢ Castrol

➢ Liqui moly

➢ Gulf

1.4 GRADES OF ENGINE OIL

0W-20 this engine oil is relatively thinner when you start the engine. Here in 0W-20, this
viscosity of the oil is 0 when the motor is cols. When the engine reaches its normal operating
temperature the viscosity of the oil becomes 20.
0W-30 The 0W-30 oil is engineered to behave as a 0weight oil at the starting temperature
and a 30weight oil wen the engine reaches its normal operating temperature.
0W-40 The 0W-40 oil is engineered to behave as a 0weight oil at the starting temperature
and a 40-weight oil when the engine will reach its normal operating temperature.
5W-30 5W-30 is the most commonly available and most extensively used engine oil in the
Indian market. Most of the Indian car manufacturers recommend this.
5W-40 5W-40 is the fully synthetic engine oil which performs like a 5weight engine oil
when experiencing a cold start. It acts like a 40weight oil once the engine reaches normal
operating temperature.
10W-40 10W-40 is the engine oil which offers a 10weight performance in the cold starting
temperature. On the other hand, it provides a 40weight performance at the normal operating
temperature of the engine.

1.5 TYPES OF ENGINE OILS

➢Mineral engine oil
➢ Semi-synthetic engine oil
➢ Full synthetic engine oil
1.6 TYPES OF DATA

•Primary data
• Secondary data

PRIMARY DATA

Primary data are those collected by the investigator himself for the first time and thus they are
original in character, they are collected for particular purpose. A well-structured questionnaire was
personally administrated to the selected sample to collect the primary data.

SECONDARY DATA

Secondary data are those, which have already been collected by some other persons for their
purpose and published. Secondary data are usually from magazines, research books, intranet and
internet (website).

SAMPLING

In this study the researcher used convenience sampling. The sample was selected according to the
convenience of the researcher.

SAMPLE SIZE

In this study the researchers sample size is 130

1.7 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The automobile sector in Coimbatore, India, is experiencing increased demand for branded engine
oils. However, there is a lack of thorough understanding of the socioeconomic elements impacting
customer choices for branded engine oils, the level of customer satisfaction with their use, and the
obstacles that customers encounter when using engine oils properly.

Specifically, the following issues must be addressed:

1. Socio-Economic Status: It is necessary to examine the socioeconomic status of respondents in
Coimbatore to understand how factors such as income level, education, occupation, and
demographic features influence their purchasing decisions regarding branded engine oils.

2. Factors which Influence Customer Preferences: To identify major market drivers of

consumer behavior, an examination into the different aspects influencing customers’ choices for
branded engine oils is required. These elements include brand reputation, quality, price,
availability, and marketing methods.

3. Level of Customer Satisfaction: Assessing the level of satisfaction among customers regarding
their usage of branded engine oils is essential to gauge the effectiveness of these products in
meeting their performance and reliability expectations.
4. Customer Challenge Analysis: Identifying and analyzing the common problems and
challenges that customers face when using engine oils, such as product performance issues,
compatibility issues, maintenance issues, and the availability of support services, is critical for
addressing gaps and improving customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

By addressing these challenges, this study hopes to give insights that may be used to guide
marketing strategies, product development activities, and customer service improvements to better
fulfill the wants and preferences of Coimbatore engine oil customers.

1.8 AREA OF STUDY

The area of study is the Coimbatore automotive market, focusing on factors influencing customer
preferences towards branded engine oils, assessing customer satisfaction levels, and analyzing
challenges faced by customers in engine oil usage.

1.9 CHAPTER SCHEME

CHAPTER I Deals with introduction and design of the study.

CHAPTER II Review of literature.
CHAPTER III Introduction to branded engine oil
CHAPTER IV Deals with the factors influencing for a Data Analysis and Interpretation.
CHAPTER V Deals with Findings, Suggestions and Conclusion
 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Tjiptono (2005), brand image is a description of the association and the confidence of
consumers toward a particular brand.

Diana W. Muthee (2006), studied the effective Marketing Communications that influence
informed buying decisions of engine oils, and they framed objectives as To determine the
marketing communication that influence buying decision of engine oil products, and it was
found by them that respondents did not make the decision on the engine oil to purchase prior
to reaching the retail outlet. The respondents started that they were satisfied with the engine
oils specifically, Shell Helix, Caltex Havoline and BP Visco.

Lovelock and Wright (2007) described the service as a economic activity that is offered by
one party to another party, in a performance at a certain time to obtain the results desired by
the recipient or the owner who is responsible for a particular object or asset.

Narayan V. Lyer and Madhav G. Badami (2007) Two-wheeled motor vehicle technology
in India: Evolution, prospects and issues to know about vehicles contribution in the urban
area, energy consumption through petroleum products. This paper only discusses the
evolution of M2W vehicle technology and contributory factors including market forces in
India.

N.C. Pahariya and Chandan Mukherjee (2007) Commodity Revenue Management:

India’s rapeseed/mustard oil sector to understanding the relationship between farmers and
Indian Government to earning the revenue for agriculture This study is basically introduces
the rapeseed/mustard oil sector. It also highlighted its importance to Indian economy and its
earnings of the government and farm sector in India.

Pickton (2008), defined a brand as the total activities embarked upon by the brand owner or
representative coupled with the users’ experiences.

Jeon (2009) he found that the loyalty of online customer has related with the quality of the
web services. The result has also shown that the quality of website services has direct
influences on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The customers will re-purchase if
they are satisfied.

Robinson et al. Howard Sheth ;Webster and Wind and Sheth(2009); attempt to explain
the importance of this phenomenon. They outlined research on organizational buying to focus
on three areas; the buying center characteristics, buying process characteristics and purchase
decision factors characteristics
Wang, and chang (2009) in research about “Corporate Brand Image and Customer
Satisfaction influence on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, the strength of customer
satisfaction also impacts on customer loyalty.

Chernatony and Webster (2010), added values are augmented to the brand to differentiate
it from competitors. Therefore, in instances where product groups become commodities,
branding can still play a part in the product offering by adding value (Jacques, 2010).

Kotler (2011), “A service is an benefit that one party can offer to another party intangible
and does not result in the ownership of anything”.

Pramod Paliwal, Sanjay Sakariya and Ramendra Singh (2011) Prabhar Oil Company and
distribution challenges in the Indian lubricants industry. To know about the market
challenges, distribution and retailing of Prabhar Oil. This study focused on factors for doing
business in the Indian automotive lubricants market, the importance of distribution, retailing
strategies and the associated opportunities and challenges.

Kotler and Armstrong (2012) is derived from the fulfilment of customer expectation, while
the expectation, while the expectation comes from the experience of previous purchases by
consumers, the opinions of friends and relatives, an information from the marketer or a
competitor.

Webster and Wind (2012) the nature of brands and organizational characteristics determines
the composition and size of the buying center.

Zeithaml and Bitner (2012) suggested that satisfaction is not only a much broader concept
than just assessment of service quality, but also influenced by other factors.

Ahmed, Majid, Nadeem, and Jalbani (2013) found that the quality service have positive
and strength correlation on brand loyalty, with customer satisfaction as mediating variable.
The service quality that serves by Pakistan mobile communication is important to make the
customer loyal.

Aaker (2014), the image of the brand is regarded as “How the brand is perceived by
consumers”. With regard to the perception, according to Davis, like human, the brand can
also be described by adjectives, adverbs, or phrase. Aaker also said that brand image has two
components, namely, brand association and personal brand.
Debanjan saha and Ramamirtham gopal (2014) an analysis of the factors that influence
the influencers’. Recommendations with regard to the purchase of automotive lubricants for
two-wheelers. The level of services quality towards the customers. This report is only able to
find out the customer’s interest level about the products and service delivery perception of
provider.

Zeithaml and Bitner (2015) suggested that satisfaction is not only a much broader concept
than just assessment of service quality, but also influenced by other factors.

Dr. T. Srinivasan (2015) A Study on Consumer Preferences of Petroleum Retail Outlets To

know about the buying behavior of petroleum products buyers. This report is simply able to
find out about Petroleum corporations those are introducing varieties of schemes to attract
the people.

Sheth and Brennan et al. (2016) studies on buying behavior in the business market is
shifting from transaction to a relational focus by looking more closely to the relationships
that exists between them.

Robinson et al. (2017), The success of distinguished, established companies in the 1990s
saw the adoption of brand management by focusing on the brand name.

Andreassen and Lindestad (2018) found that the company image and customer satisfaction
influence on customer loyalty. The company image has direct impact on customer, otherwise
the customer satisfaction has indirect impact to customer.

REFERENCE

Diana W. Muthee (2006), Effective Marketing Communications that influence informed

buying decisions of engine oils– In Indian Context, IOSR Journal of Business and
Management, IOSR-JBM, pp. [Link].

Aaker, D. (2014). Aaker on branding: 20 principles that drive success. New York: Morgan
James publishing add-El-Salam, E.M., Shawky, A.Y., & El-Nahas, T. (2013). The impact of
corporate image and reputation on service quality, customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty: Testing the mediating role (case analysis in an international service company).

The Business & Management review, 3(2), 177-196

Abdullah, N. (2013). The number of workshops is not in accordance with the number of
vehicles. Retrieved from [Link] Com.

Ahmed, N., Majid, M., Nadeem, M., &Jalbani, S.M. (2013). The impact of service quality
on brand loyalty: Mediating role of customer satisfaction. European Journal of Management
Sciences,1(1), 30-41.

Jeone, M. (2009). Impact of perceived website service quality on customer e-loyalty on a

logging website. Ph.D. dissertation, Iowa State University.

Kotler, P., &Amstrong, G. (2012). Principles of marketing. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice

[Link], P. (2012). Marketing management (millennium ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Inc.

Lovelock, C.H., & Wright, L.K. (2007). Service marketing. Jakarta: Indeks.

Pickton, D. (2008), What is a brand worth? Journal of Brand Management, 15(3), 155- 156.

Robinson, P. J., Faris, C. W. and Wind, Y. (1967), Industrial buying and creative marketing,
1st edn. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Tjiptono, F-(2005). Prinsip-prinsip total quality service. Yogyakarta: Penerbit Andy. Tu, Y.-
T., Li, M.-L., &Chil, H.-C. (2013). An empirical study of corporate brand image, customer
perceived value and satisfaction on loyalty in shoe industry. Journal of Economics and
Behavioral Studies, 5(7), 469-483.

Webster, F. E. and Wind, Y. (2012), Organizational buying behavior, 4th edn. Englewood
Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

Wang, and chang (2012), Assessing the Corporate Brand Image and Customer Satisfaction
influence on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, the strength of customer satisfaction
also impact on customer loyalty., The Journal of Marketing, 55(2), 17-28.

Sheth (2016) and Brennan et al. (2013), studies on buying behavior in the business market
is shifting from transaction to a relational focus by looking more closely to the relationships
that exists between them., Harvard Business Review, 77(4), 85-95.

Zeithaml, V.A., & Bitner, M.J. (2012). Service marketing (international ed.). New York:
McGraw Hill Inc.
Debanjan saha and Ramamirtham gopal (2014) the factors that influence the influencers.
Recommendations with regard to the purchase of automotive lubricants for two-wheelers,
IOSR-JBM, pp. [Link].

Dr. T. Srinivasan (2015) Consumer Preferences of Petroleum Retail Outlets To know about
the buying behavior of petroleum products buyers, 15(3), 155- 156.

Narayan V. Lyer and Madhav G. Badami (2007) Two-wheeled motor vehicle technology
in India: Evolution, prospects and issues to know about vehicles contribution in the urban
area, energy consumption through petroleum products, 77(4), 85-95.

N.C. Pahariya and Chandan Mukherjee (2007) Management: India’s rapeseed/mustard oil
sector to understanding the relationship between farmers and Indian Government to earning
the revenue for agriculture, 1(1), 30-41.

Pramod Paliwal, Sanjay Sakariya and Ramendra Singh (2011) Prabhar Oil Company and
distribution challenges in the Indian lubricants industry,IOSR-JBM, pp. 17-
[Link].
 CHAPTER III

PROFILE OF THE STUDY

3.1 INTRODUCTION TO BRANDED ENGINE OIL

Both oil and gas have been known since ancient times, but they were very little used before
the 1860s. The first oil well was drilled in Pennsylvania, USA, 1859. Within a few decades,
oil had also been discovered in other countries. The most recently – developed oil field are
in the polar regions of Alaska and Siberia. Oil has become the world’s most important fuel,
which, when refined, is used for domestic and industrial heating and for powering the engines
of our machines. Natural gas was once considered a waste product, but is now widely
exploited as a heating fuel.

There is various other useful by-product obtained from crude oil, or petroleum, such as
petrochemical used as raw material for many industries, and organic solvent like Methane,
Hexane etc. Motor oil is highly viscous and soapy in nature to the touch. It has a high density
and high boiling point of 800kgm-3 and 4000C respectively. Motor oil is a selected fraction
of refined petroleum with or without additives used to modify frictional effects between
moving parts. There are varieties of motor branded and unbranded grades.

However, in the course of this project emphasis will be lagged on the branded motor oil. A
good number of the branded oil will be examined by identifying and analyzing the
characteristic qualities of the various brands. Motor oil in this sense refers to the engine oils.
Designing lubricates or motor oil to perform function of friction and wear reduction, heat
removal and contaminate suspension in different systems are a complex tusk, involving a
careful balance of properties both in the lube base struck and the performance enhancing
additives. It is known that between five and ten thousand different lubricants, lubrication
formulations are necessary to satisfy more than 90% of all lubricant applications

Castrol India Ltd (CIL) is the second-largest player in the Indian lubrication industry. From
just 6 per cent market share in 1993, the company now commands approximately 20 per cent
of the lubrication market. It was the first to advertise and promote engine oils. CIL’s
innovative and attention-grabbing advertisements have over the years strengthened its brand
image. Its business can be classified into three categories — automotive, industrial, and
marine.

3.2 COMPANY PROFILE

Lubricant is the blood for any kind of machinery or engine. There are various kind of famous
Lubricant Companies are existing in the worldwide, e.g.: Servo, Castrol, Shell, Gulf,
Valvoline, ExxonMobil, Elf etc. Bioxol India Group & Co is trying to build their own
business in Lubricant industry. In 2018 group of three common businessmen did some small
investment to establish a separate brand of lubricant product, which know as a Bioxol
Lubricants. They had started importing Lubricants in a bulk from their rented plant, which
located in Kamrej road, Surat. After that they labelling and packaging with the company
name and send it to the Company’s main distribution hub, which is located in Durgapur West
Bengal. Through the proper supplychain management products are distributed to all sub
distributers and local consumers. 5 Distributors are basically located in some area of West
Bengal state e.g.: Asansol, Raniganj, Bankura and Purulia; some area of Jharkhand state e.g.:
Bokaro, Dhanbad, some area of Bihar state including Patna and in the popular city of Odisha
state, Raurkella. More than 40 lakes Indian money was invested by Mr. Arindam
Chakraborty, Mr. Shashikant Pandey and Mr. Kamalkant Shastri. Till last week of February
2019, they earned with the profit Rs19, 52,505.00/-, now the business is going good. Lots of
investors are coming for investing in this company. Company are planning to start a new
Lubricant production factory by their own. They are also trying to enter in large market.

3.3 HISTORY
CIL commenced operation in India in 1919 as a trading unit of C C Wakefield. In 1983 it
went public, with 60 per cent of its equity being held by retail investors. In 1994 Burmah
Castrol increased its shareholding in the company to 51 per cent. Following the takeover of
Burmah Castrol by BP in 2000, the latter took control of the company with 71 per cent
shareholding. After the amalgamation of Tata BP Lubricants India Limited with CIL in May
2003, BP now holds 71.3 per cent stake in the company.

Bajaj dtsi
The Digital Twin Spark Ignition (DTS-i) is a concept developed specifically for small bore four
stroke engines with two valves. Two spark plugs placed diametrically opposite to each other in the
combustion chamber fire simultaneously igniting the charge. The benefit of this concept is
improved fuel economy, better drivability, and reduced engine on a emissions. The concept has
been successfully launched two products namely 150 DTS-I and 180 DTS-I engines. The DTS-I
concept helps the products meet the India 2005-emission standard without the use of secondary air
injection and exhaust after treatment.
The DTS-I concept allows the compression ratio of the engine to be increased from 9.65 to 9.85.
At part load conditions (Indian Driving Cycle) the DTS-I technology allows the engine to run
leaner at a lambda of 1.2 with excellent stability. On a bore size of 57mm (150DTS-i) the maximum
flame travel length was reduced by 18%. The power, torque and specific output per liter were
increased, while the fuel consumption and emissions were reduced due to the rapid combustion
brought about by the twin spark plugs.

Motul
Motul it was founded in 1853 in New York, the Swan & Finch company started its activity in the
sector of high quality lubricants. As of 1920, it turned to the international markets by exporting
some of its portfolio brands like Arul, Textual, Motul.

In 1932 Ernst Zang negotiated the distribution in France of products of the Motul brand with Swan
& Finch via his company Supra penne In 1953, the Swan & Finch centenary was celebrated with
the worldwide launch of Motul Century, which became the first multigrade oil on the European
market. However, Swan & Finch suspended its activities in 1957. Supra Penn bought back title
deeds and patents pertaining to the Motul brand, which was renamed for the company’s chief
product, becoming Motels’..

Shell
The origin of the Shell name can be traced back to the seashells that Marcue Samuel senior
imported from the Far East during the late 19th Century. When his sons Marcus junior and Samuel
were looking for a name for the kerosene that they were exporting to Asia, they chose Shell.
As kerosene sales come to dominate the business’s turnover, the name was adopted for the new
importexport organisation that was set up in 1897 – the Shell Transport and Trading company.

The Pecten design well-established and being used consistently at last, the early 90s saw Shell’s
current colours introduced: a warmer yellow and red to soften the fell of our brand and give it a
broader appeal. In 2015, the sound logo orchestral score, the sound of shell was created, a sound
that is fast becoming as recognisable as the pecten logo for customers.

Castrol
Castrol limited is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering
a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name
Castrol was originally just the brand name for company’s motor oil, but the company eventually
changed its name to Castrol when the product name become better-known than the original
company name CC Wakefield.
The Wakefield Oil Company was founded by Charles Wakefield in 1899. Wakefield had previously
left a job at Vacuum Oil to start a new business in London, selling lubricants for trains and heavy
machinery. The company launched its first lubricant in 1906. The new business was established in
Cheapside in London to commercialize lubricants for trains and other heavy machinery. Eight
former vacuum Oil employees joined Wakefield in his new company.

Liqui moly
Liqui moly GmbH was founded in 1957 in Ulm on the river Danube. The patent for production of
molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) formed the basis for the company. This additive based on liquified
molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) was the company’s first product and gave the company its name.
molybdenum sulfide, the basic ingredient Liqui Moly Oil additive, was discovered in the US Army
in post-war Germany. These shops sold a can under the brand name Liqui Moly that contained the
liquified form of the solid lubricant molybdenum sulfide (MoS2). When added to motor oil, this
substance ensures emergency running characteristics in the event of a sudden loss of oil. Fighter
pilots in World War One had already exploited this property, adding MoS2to the motor oil in the
aircraft engines. This enabled pilots to still land, even if the oil tank was hit.

Gulf
A rich heritage of 100 years, the Gulf brand enjoys global recognition and has won the trust of
millions.

Our journey began in 1913, with the launch of the first-ever branded petrol station in Pittsburgh,
USA . We have paved the way into the fuel retail sector ever since, pioneering innovations,
breakthrough technologies, high quality products and services.

Our endeavours towards excellence led to the development of other sites, branded with the
distinctive orange disc log is now synonymous with innovation, superior products and technical
excellence.
During the 1960’s the Gulf brand created high profile marketing campaigns, which included the
sponsorship of the Apollo moon landings. Today, the brand enjoys partnerships with several
renowned brands and esteemed associations the world over.

Gulf oil has established its presence in over 25 countries for both fuel retailing and lubricant, with
a worldwide coverage for lubricant sales. We aspire to cover 60 countries by 2020.