INTRODUCTION:

Handloom products of West Bengal have a rich tradition. The heritage of our master weavers and artisans are now blended with new technological designs and colourful yarns to produce a wide variety of products. As an economic trade and industrial activity, the handlooms occupy a place second only to agriculture in providing livelihood to the people.

The Government of West Bengal has given emphasis for the handloom and textiles sector with the announcement of new textile policy and setting up of Commissionerate of Textiles for development, infrastructure support and also improve attraction for investment.

The textile products of Bengal have attracted not only national but also worldwide attention and bear the timeless legacy of our cultural heritage. Silks of Bengal were much acclaimed the world over since ancient times.

The British Museum website has a document from 1730 listing the range of textiles or the piece goods purchased in Bengal by the Company. During the 18th Century, Indian textiles comprised 60% of the total value of the Company’s sales in London. Purchases included fine muslins, printed chintz, cotton and silk ginghams and embroidered quilts.

That textile tradition has continued to thrive. Even today, handloom clusters in West Bengal are known for their unique designs and techniques. Handloom still remains the great employer of the rural sector in Bengal. 3.5 lakhs handlooms exist in West Bengal till date. Santipur, Fulia in Nadia district, Dhaniakhali, Begampur in Hooghly district, Samudragarh, Dhatrigram, Katwa, Ketugram in Burdwan district, Bishnupur in Bankura district are the mainly handloom concentrated areas in the state of West Bengal.

Tantuja, a state government initiative under the West Bengal State Handloom Weavers' Co-operative Society was established in 1954 by the Government of West Bengal for marketing of handloom products produced by the member Primary Weavers Co-operative Societies (PWCS) so as to develop the handloom sector of the State. The brand name has been derived from the Bengali word 'tantu' which describes 'anything related to textiles'. Tantuja, which is the Apex body of the PWCS of the State, is mainly responsible for the supply of inputs and marketing of handloom products of primary societies. The Apex society is also engaged in organizing and developing markets for handloom products within the State and outside the State. To establish and run sale depots within and outside the State for sale of handloom goods, the society needs adequate working capital. The State Government contributes to the share capital of the Apex society for strengthening its share capital base.

Tantuja has been marketing a wide range of handloom products which includes jamdani sarees, baluchari sarees, tangail sarees, dhoties, lungies, bed sheets, and towels etc. through their 83 showrooms and e-commerce through Flipkart, Amazon.

Tantuja has recently made a turnaround recording three consecutive years of profit after incurring losses for 25 years with new marketing and retailing strategies. The organization has received National Award for Marketing of Handloom Products, 2015 from Ministry of Textile, Government of India.

Thanks to e-commerce, web marketing portals with professionally shot photographs of handloom products and innovative social media marketing strategies have captivated customers across generations and increased the market demand for handloom products. Young people are very aware and sensitive to what is happening around the world, have buying power, and are keen to make a difference–we need to capitalize on this. We need to share the stories behind handlooms and the communities that weave them, and pitch them as aspirational products. This increased awareness coupled with ongoing design innovation and product development in keeping with evolving markets, and adherence to high quality standards can help us ensure a sustained market built on collective knowledge and cultural richness of India.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

In view of the crucial significance of ensuring the awareness of consumer about the handloom products, a study was conducted to seek the following

(a) understand the level of consumer awareness about different types of handloom products.

(b) understand the level of consumer awareness about rebates offered for handloom products.

(d) identify the important occasion that induces customers to buy handloom products.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

Consumers are individuals who buy products for household consumption or for themselves. Consumer awareness refers to a buyer’s knowledge of a particular product or services which he/she is going to consume. The consumer may or may not be conscious about the originality and quality of the products which he is going to consume. In the present study on customer awareness about handloom products, an effort has been made by the researcher to understand how far consumers are aware about the handloom products in the existence of other mill made cloths and powerloom cloths. Though the handloom products are available in many places whether the consumers can able to buy the genuine handloom cloths is a query. Hence the present study is to understand the consumer awareness about the handloom products.

Shaw, (2015) aims to understand the various problems of Varanasi handloom weavers. The findings revealed that the handloom weavers of Varanasi have lost their prestigious traditional industry due to the industrial revolution in all over India. The capitalist production, invention of power loom, increasing price of yarn, low wages and labour problem are pushed to handloom to an end. The production system is mostly under the control of a particular entrepreneurial class Gaddidar or master weaver. The Gaddidar possesses capital and power that they can control over the production unit and labour. The handloom industry is one of the major industries that need immediate care and attention. With this declining trend in the handloom sector the problems of unemployment will aggravate. The policy maker should realize the importance of handloom sector and allocate the required funds to avoid the decline in handloom industry. The government should plan for branding and marketing of the handloom products in larger scale, which will re-define the identity of the State and uplift of handloom weavers.

Rani and Bains (2014) analyzed the consumer behavior towards handloom products in State of Haryana and Punjab. The study further analyzed the status of handloom weaver’s and allied workers. The study further observed various factors that impact the consumer behavior and stated on the employment opportunities the sector provides to the poor.

Nadh et.al. (2013) conducted a study to understand the marketing and distribution system for handloom. The study revealed that the handloom sector is not only our past glory but also it plays a vital role even in the context of present Indian economy. This sector accounts for 18.4% of the total cloth product produced in the country (excluding clothes made of wool, silk and spun yarn) and 15% of the total exports of the fabrics. Over 125 countries are now buying handloom products from India. The study concludes that Government should help in opening more outlet, exhibition and trade fair, loans to setup subsidized shop, relaxation on duties and taxes, improve the marketing strategy, encourage the mechanization, special outlets, implementation of the mandatory rules, outlets at village level, better technology for weavers at cheaper rates, discount schemes and customer service.

Deshmukh (2013) concentrated on the analysis of the target customers buying behavior for handicrafts and handlooms products from Urban Haat project which has been the policy of Government of India’s in setting up permanent marketing functions at primal locations in the nation to discard middle agencies. The results indicated that young male and female who are the professionals from middle class family have been the targeted consumers who have higher influence in the purchasing decision process of handcraft and handloom product. Yet their requirements are not compelling due to cost and various reasons. Also high class customers were not found to be attracted in this process.

Pappeswari and Rajalakshmi (2013) studied the consumer satisfaction towards handloom products and the findings revealed that the opinion on level of satisfaction of the respondents is independent of age, sex, educational qualification, occupation and monthly income.

Kumudha and Rizwana (2012) found that the handloom industry is facing lot of problems like outdated technologies, lack of unique selling proposition, unorganized production system, insufficient working capital, weak promotion strategies, competition from power loom and mill sector etc. Finally they concluded that handloom is a traditional cottage industry offering millions of employment opportunity to millions of weavers in India but recently the industry is facing lot of problems and going towards the decline stage. Though there are various reasons which acts as the factors responsible for the extinction of handloom sector, promotion is one of the key area and hence the considerable efforts has to be put for the betterment of the handloom products

Cathelina (2010) attempted to bring out the operational problems and the export potentials and opportunities of handloom industry. The study also dealt with socio-economic profile of the handloom weavers working under the co-operative fold are also suggested that the government should give more publicity in foreign countries about the importance of handlooms and speciality in its weaving.

Vaddi and Balakrishnaiah (2009) in their study aimed to analyze the consumer awareness and consumer behaviour towards Khadi and handloom products. It was found that in Andhra Pradesh 65% of consumers were aware about Khadi and handloom fabrics irrespective of the religion, communication and education levels most of the exhibition, melas and rebate seasons were popularly utilized by all classes of consumers who get attracted by publicity and advertisements, interested by new designs and bright colors.

Agarwal and Luniya (2009) in their study made an attempt to identify the buying behaviour of women consumer regarding hand woven Kota Doria saris. The study was conducted with women respondent and it was found that consumers are very much aware about the originality of hand woven Doria pattern. Floral mode of design, all over woven pattern, multicolor combination, and hand embroidery was most preferred. Most preferred buying venues were shops. Kota Doria and Banarasi saris are equally preferred among hand woven saris. However, the knowledge of geographical indications is negligible.

Jeyakodi (2009) studied the working of rebate schemes in handloom co-operatives in Tamil Nadu. The study stated that the rebate on sales of handloom products falls in the class of subsidies. The handloom goods are costlier than the mill made cloth and this is for the reason handloom Industry’s productivity is low and wage rate is high. It is also said in the study that due to stiff competition the efficiency of the handloom weavers' societies are coming down, in turn, it led the planners to think about the evaluation of performance of such co-operatives in the best interest of the weaver members. This is the reason the government has been supporting this industry through assistance called rebate subsidy.

Malmaraugan (2008) in his study analyzed how word of mouth has control in making purchase decisions of the product saree. It is stated that word of mouth is the most influential power as compared to magazine, banner, radio, television, newspaper.

METHODOLOGY:

The required data for the present study was collected mainly from primary sources. Convenience sampling technique was used to select a sample of 120 customers from five different stores of Tantuja located in the city of Kolkata. The present study is descriptive in nature and is mainly based on primary data. Structured questionnaire method was used as a main tool for collecting the primary data. The questionnaire was designed in a methodical way of covering adequate information in all facets of the study. The data pertaining to demographic profile of the consumers, level of awareness of the handloom producers, source of information of handloom products, awareness about rebates and handloom mark are collected through structured questionnaire. The required secondary data for the study was collected from books, magazines, journals, newspapers, and websites.

The collected primary data has been sorted, tabulated in a proper format and analyzed by using Percentage analysis, and Henry Garrett Ranking Technique.

(a) Percentage analysis:

The data gathered for the study is also presented in terms of percentage. The percentage is calculated to the total of the subject.

Percentage of respondents=	No. of. respondents	x 100
	Total respondent

(b) Henry Garret Ranking Method:

Is used to find the most significant factor which influences the respondent. As per this method, respondents have been asked to assign the rank for all factors and the outcomes of such ranking have been converted into score value with the help of the following formula (Garrett, 1926):

Percent position=	100 (Rij-0.5)
	Nj

Where

Rij=Rank given for the ith variable by jth respondents

Nj=Number of variable ranked by jth respondents.

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

Table 1: Socio-Economic Profile of the Respondents

Variables	Category	Frequency	Present
Gender	Male	47	39.2
	Female	73	60.8
	Total	120	100.0
Age Group	Below 25	15	12.5
	26-35	35	29.2
	36-45	39	32.5
	Above 46	31	25.8
	Total	120	100.0
Qualification	Upto XII Std	22	18.3
	Graduate	47	39.2
	Post Graduate	38	31.7
	Illiterate	13	10.8
	Total	120	100.0
Occupation	Private employee	61	50.8
	Self employed	32	26.7
	Govt. employee	21	17.5
	Others	6	5.0
	Total	120	100.0
Marital Status	Married	78	65.0
	Unmarried	42	35.0
	Total	120	100.0
Family Size	Less than 3	36	30.0
	3-5	58	48.3
	More than 5	26	21.7
	Total	120	100.0
Monthly Income	Below 20000	24	20.0
	20001-35000	42	35.0
	35001-50000	36	30.0
	Above 50001	18	15.0
	Total	120	100.0

The socio economic characteristics of selected respondents has been presented in the above Table 1.Out of 120 respondents, 39.2% are male and 60.8% of the respondents are female out of them nearly 65% are married. The majority of the respondents falls under the age group 36-45 years (32.5%) followed by 26-35 years (29.2%). 12.5% of the respondents are in the age group less than 25 years, while the remaining 25.8% of the respondents belong to the age above 46 years. Regarding educational qualification 39.2% of the respondents are graduates, 31.7% are post graduates, 18.3% are completed upto school education level and the remaining 10.8% are illiterates. 50.8% of the respondents are working under private organizations, 26.7% of the respondents are involved in business/profession, and 5% have agriculture as their occupation while 17.5% of the respondents are government employees. From the above table, it is also inferred that 20% of the respondents earn less than 20000 as their monthly income, 35% earns between Rs.20001-35000, 30% of the respondents get a monthly income falls between 35000-50000 and while the remaining 15% of the respondents get more than 50000 as their monthly income.

From the above analysis, it can be inferred that majority of the respondents are aware about sarees (88.3%), ready-mades for women's (80%), ready-mades for men's (68.3%) and yardage (fabrics) for men and women are at 61.7% and 60% respectively.

Table 2: Awareness about different types of handloom products

Products		No. of Respondents	Percentage
Sarees		106	88.3
Yardage	(Men)	74	61.7
Yardage	(Women)	72	60.0
Ready-mades	(Men)	82	68.3
Ready-mades	(Women)	96	80.0
Scarf		82	68.3
Dhotis		36	30.0
Lungi		49	40.8
Towels		82	68.3
Bed sheets		65	54.2
Curtains		41	34.2
Pillow covers		38	31.7
Handkerchief		47	39.2
Duster cloth		21	17.5

Both scarf and towels are at (68.3%) and bed sheets at (54.2%). The respondents are not that much aware about the product item like curtains, pillow covers, handkerchief and duster cloth which are one of the integral products in the handloom product mix. The interior décor is a blooming segment and the huge population of India provides a lucrative market for that. Handloom products in the interior décor section can be promoted more by highlighting the sustainable fashion factor and thus be given more impetus.

Table 3: Period of awareness about handloom products

Period	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Up to 5 years	40	33.3
6-10 years	18	16.0
Above 10 years	62	50.7
Total	120	100.0

From the above analysis, it can be inferred that majority of the respondents are aware about the handloom products for more than 10 years (50.7%) followed by up to 5 years (33.3%) and between 6-10 years (16%). handloom, especially, the name Tantuja has a heritage factor attached with it and thus the awareness of its offerings is much known to the respondents.

Table 4: Sources of information about the handloom products

Sources	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Friends and relatives	68	56.6
Advertisement	44	36.6
Handloom society	40	33.3
Handloom fairs/exhibition	71	59.1
Exclusive handloom outlet	36	30.0

The government of India has put great impetus on the upliftment of the handloom sector and has taken up various measures towards achieving the same. Handloom fairs/exhibitions are one of such measures which the government arrange intensively across national and international locations, it can thus be inferred that that handloom exhibition is the main source of awareness for handloom products (59.1%) followed by friends and relatives (56.6%).

Table 5: Distinguishing handloom materials from other materials

Opinion	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Yes	87	72.5
No	33	27.5
Total	120	100.0

Since this is the era of consumer awareness towards green fashion, chances of customer awareness about handlooms are naturally on the higher side. Thus it can be inferred that majority of respondents are in a position to distinguish between handloom and other materials.

Table 6: Availability of handloom products with ‘rebate’ in the market

Opinion	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Yes	108	90.00
No	12	10.00
Total	600	100.0

From the above analysis, it can be inferred that majority of the respondents have strongly agreed for availability of handloom products with rebate in the market.

Table 7: Awareness on handloom mark related to the quality of handloom products

Mark	No. of Respondents	Percentage
No	24	20.0
Yes	96	80.0
Total	600	100.0

Present day customers are acutely aware of benefits of their purchase. They also possess a vast assortment of information about products due to the omnipresent influence of internet. Thus quality assurance marks and certifications are things which today's customers not only know but actively seek for.

Table 8: Availability of rebate system

Opinion	No. of Respondents	Percentage
Handloom society	52	43.3
Handloom exhibition	76	63.3
Exclusive handloom outlet	44	36.7
Others	12	10.0

Since the State handloom initially thrived on the government subsidy, rebate has been a factor to promote sales since long. Thus the customers are fairly aware of the rebate factor.

The above table represents that the statement 'when need arises' is ranked in the first position by high number of respondents. Festival is ranked in the second position, special rebate and offer is ranked in the third position, handloom expo is ranked in the fourth position and salesman’s approach is ranked in the fifth position.

Table 9: Garrett Ranking Test for occasion induced to purchase handloom products

S. No.	Reasons	Total Score	Average	Rank
1	During Festival	6580	54.83	II
2	Special rebate and offer	6475	53.96	III
3	When need arises	7360	61.33	I
4	During handloom Expo	6180	51.50	IV
5	When salesman approach	5880	49.00	V
Source: Computed Data

SUGGESTIONS:

(a) The study reveals that the respondents are not that much aware about the product item like curtains, pillow covers, handkerchief and duster cloth which are one of the integral products in the handloom product mix. Hence sufficient point of sale display has to be made so that the customers are aware of such products offered by handloom weaver's co-operative societies.

(b) The handloom industry is mainly in the co-operative sector as more than 50% of the handloom weavers have been brought under the co-operative fold. Handloom societies are not acting as a preferred source of information in creating awareness about handloom products. Hence handloom weaver's co-operative societies should take initiative in creating awareness about handloom products.

(c) Even if, it is well known information that all the handloom products are sold with cash rebate still the respondents are not aware about rebate schemes offered for handloom products. Hence sufficient promotion has to given by government about the regular rebate schemes and special rebate schemes which are offered during festival times.

(d) More awareness programmes may be conducted to increase the reach of handloom mark label.

(e) The study reveals that majority of the customers were female and there is more scope to attract male population. Hence it is suggested that male segment of the market may also be given importance by offering more variety and male specific dress materials having preferred designs and colours.

(f) The study reveals that next to individual need customers prefer to buy during festivals hence it is suggested to offer more promotions like special offers, rebates, and free gifts during festival times.

CONCLUSION:

The study reveals that consumers are not are not fully aware of the handloom industry and its products. A need for targeting the younger generation would be the prime focus of change. Variables of male female customer satisfaction need to be evaluated and incorporated into the system to enhance the sales of handloom products and to efficiently handle the market competition. Hence sufficient measures may be taken in order to increase the awareness of handloom products and in turn make it more sustainable. The study can be further extended to understand consumer buying behaviour of handloom products, customer satisfaction about handloom products. Further the study can be carried out on exporting the Handloom fabrics as there is tremendous demand for these products abroad.

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Received on 04.05.2018 Modified on 29.05.2018

Asian Journal of Management. 2018; 9(3):1177-1182.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2018.00190.7