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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

<strong>Identifying</strong> <strong>Factors</strong> <strong>influencing</strong> <strong>preference</strong><br />

<strong>towards</strong> <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Saving Schemes<br />

(A research paper with reference to Garhwal region in Uttarakhand)<br />

Ritika Aggarwal<br />

Research Scholar, Department Of Management<br />

Uttarakhand Technical University<br />

Dehradun, India<br />

ritikaaggarwal2007@gmail.com<br />

Abstract - India <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings Bank is widely<br />

known and traditional formal institution offering<br />

saving products. Its outreach has been ceaselessly<br />

increasing both in terms of number of accounts as<br />

well as number of branches, especially in small<br />

regions of the country. Globalization has brought<br />

outsized revolution in the financial sector of the<br />

country, which proves to be challenging for POSBs.<br />

Liberalization has substantially increased better and<br />

innovative investment possibilities to the investor.<br />

However, India POSB has positioned itself as a<br />

reliable agency of Government of India. It is due to its<br />

competitive advantage of geographical accessibility<br />

and product differentiation on the important<br />

attributes of safety, security and risk free factor. The<br />

present paper examines the <strong>preference</strong> of investors of<br />

Garhwal region <strong>towards</strong> different investment<br />

schemes of <strong>Post</strong> office and factors that motivates them<br />

to choose a particular investment scheme of post<br />

office.<br />

Keywords: India POSBs, saving products,<br />

motivating factors, de-motivating factors, investor’s<br />

<strong>preference</strong><br />

I. INTRODUCTION<br />

India is one of rapidly growing economies of Asia.<br />

Emergence of several significant trends such as<br />

liberalization and globalization; demographic shift<br />

<strong>towards</strong> urbanization monetization of the economy<br />

especially the agricultural sector giving rise to a<br />

corresponding demand for financial services by all<br />

sections of the society; and government policy to<br />

increase funding for weaker section programs has<br />

necessitated changes in financial framework of the<br />

country. Due to the on-going reforms the people’s<br />

expectations and requirements from life are<br />

changing. Investments have become a basic<br />

necessity for everyone. Volatility in the market,<br />

increasing expenditures, uncertainties, rising<br />

inflation, etc. is letting large section of society to<br />

showing their interest and to investing their funds<br />

in different nature of investment products. Many of<br />

them provides better returns, high interest rates, tax<br />

savings, high quality IT related services and much<br />

more benefits. At one place where a large bundle of<br />

such investment products are offered in the market,<br />

Government of India is still running and sustaining<br />

the oldest <strong>Post</strong>al saving option to saving money. At<br />

present where private players are capturing the<br />

market, it is a matter of concern whether <strong>Post</strong><br />

<strong>Office</strong> Savings Banks are still preferred by society<br />

or not, whether it is still seen as important saving<br />

option or not. Consequently, an attempt has been<br />

made to find out the investment <strong>preference</strong>s<br />

<strong>towards</strong> different post office saving schemes and to<br />

know the reasons behind the interest of investors of<br />

Garhwal region, in the state of Uttarakhand.<br />

Accessibility of researchers with the investors of<br />

Garhwal region has motivated them to select them<br />

as preferred sample of the study.<br />

The present paper is concerned with fulfilling the<br />

following objectives:<br />

• To study the <strong>preference</strong> of the investors for<br />

different post office saving options.<br />

• To find out the factors that influence investors to<br />

invest among post office saving products.<br />

• To find out those factors that demotivates<br />

investors <strong>towards</strong> POSB schemes.<br />

• To study the impact of occupation and education<br />

variables on the investor’s behaviour <strong>towards</strong> post<br />

office saving schemes.<br />

A. <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings Banks (POSBs)<br />

The <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings Bank (POSB) is the oldest<br />

and largest banking institution in the country. It<br />

operates more than 238 million Savings Accounts<br />

(India <strong>Post</strong> Annual Report 2011-2012) in more than<br />

154000 <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong>s. POSBs in India were<br />

established in 1882 by the British colonizers to<br />

mobilize savings. It is an agency function carried<br />

out by the Department of <strong>Post</strong>s on behalf of the<br />

Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The<br />

Ministry of Finance remunerates the Department of<br />

<strong>Post</strong> for the Savings Bank work at a rate fixed from<br />

time to time. Presently, seven post office savings<br />

schemes are operated across the country. These<br />

schemes are: Savings Account, Recurring Deposit<br />

(RD), Time Deposit (TD), Monthly Income<br />

Scheme (MIS), Public Provident Fund (PPF),<br />

National Savings Certificate (NSC) and Senior<br />

Citizens Savings Scheme (SCSS). The sale of<br />

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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

Kisan Vikas Patra Scheme has been discontinued<br />

by Government of India w.e.f. 1 st December, 2011<br />

and this does not affect those who already have this<br />

certificate.<br />

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE<br />

The objective of this study is to explore factors that<br />

influence investors to invest among post office<br />

saving products. The present study examines the<br />

factors that appear to exercise the greatest influence<br />

on the investor decision making. It includes the<br />

factors investigated by previous studies like<br />

sources of investment advice, purpose of<br />

investment, education and occupation. Based on<br />

review of literature study identifies influence of<br />

these factors on post office investors decision<br />

making. In addition to factors extrapolated from<br />

academic sources, study also introduces additional<br />

factors generated through personal interviews that<br />

are supposed to influence the investor decision<br />

making. These factors are suggested by the<br />

professional and contextual sources. These factors<br />

that seem to be <strong>influencing</strong> individual investor are:<br />

criteria of agent selection, motivating features of<br />

post office saving schemes and demotivating<br />

factors. Since respondents’ orientation may be<br />

reflected in their answers, they are asked direct<br />

questions covering all the shortlisted factors.<br />

<strong>Factors</strong> considered by previous studies are as<br />

follows:<br />

1.) Sources of investment advice - NCAER Report<br />

(2011) found that while applying for an IPO,<br />

investors across all income/education categories list<br />

newspapers as the single source of information. Dr.<br />

C. Thilakam and Dr. Ganesan (2012) observed that<br />

respondents have gained knowledge about<br />

saving/investment avenues through business<br />

channels. Sanjay Kanti Das (2011) reveals that for<br />

investment in share market, friends & relatives are<br />

the primary source of information and for insurance<br />

market others like agents and development officers<br />

plays the key role. Advertisement, brokerage firms<br />

and other sources have almost a similar impact for<br />

investment in mutual funds. His study shows that<br />

the association between the source of awareness<br />

and preferred investment avenue is not significant.<br />

Study of Anna A. Merikas, Andreas G. Merikas,<br />

George S. Vozikis, Dev Prasad (2011) concludes<br />

that experienced investors rely mostly on wealth<br />

maximization criteria and they are self-reliant<br />

ignoring inputs of family members, politicians, and<br />

co-workers when purchasing stocks. NCAER<br />

Report (2011) found that a significant number of<br />

investors find the advice of brokers more useful.<br />

The survey reveals that while participating in<br />

mutual funds as well as in the secondary market, a<br />

significant majority depends on the advice given by<br />

intermediaries and friends. Nick Chater, Steffen<br />

Huck and Roman Inderst (2010) find that advice is<br />

ubiquitous in the retail investment market. Trust in<br />

advisors is high, but consumers are often unaware<br />

of potential conflicts of interest. Sharon Collard<br />

(2009) finds that many people may rely on<br />

professional financial advice to make pension<br />

purchase and investment decisions, research from<br />

the UK and Australia has highlighted concerns<br />

about the quality of advice provided to individuals.<br />

Pravin Narayan Mahamuni, Santosh Kalabhau<br />

Apte and Dr. Anand Ganpatrao Jumle (2011)<br />

studied that people get the information regarding<br />

investment opportunities present in the market<br />

from their professional consultant. After that the<br />

available information sources like as, TV ads, web<br />

sites, newspaper, friends, etc.<br />

2.) Purpose of Investment - Haruna Issahaku (2011)<br />

found reasons account for households saving and<br />

investment behaviour are to cope with unexpected<br />

emergencies, buy some assets, pay for predictable<br />

expenses, allow for future consumption, make<br />

provision for retirement, to accumulate enough<br />

funds for investment, employ the teaming<br />

unemployed youth, reap higher returns and luxury.<br />

The World Bank new flagship report (2012) finds<br />

that macroeconomic vulnerability and the resulting<br />

unstable income streams, the risk of<br />

unemployment, and health risks are strong<br />

precautionary motive for savings of Turkish<br />

households. Ms. Babita Yadav and Dr. Anshuja<br />

Tiwari (2012) revealed that majority of the<br />

respondents invest in life insurance for tax benefit,<br />

followed by the risk coverage & saving, premium<br />

charges, security with high return and insurance<br />

services.<br />

3.) Educational Qualification - SK Das (2011) finds<br />

that respondents with education below tenth<br />

standard invested mostly in insurance followed by<br />

banks and property. Respondents with education up<br />

to under Graduate level mostly invested in<br />

insurance products followed by share market,<br />

banks and mutual fund. Respondents with<br />

graduation or above education level invested<br />

mostly in insurance products followed by share<br />

market, banks and mutual funds. His study reveals<br />

that the association between the education and<br />

preferred investment avenue is not significant. In a<br />

NCAER report (2011), it was found that twenty six<br />

per cent of households with more than 15 years of<br />

education prefer to invest in secondary markets.<br />

Most participants in the derivatives market have an<br />

average education between 11 to 15 years. Results<br />

of study of Muhammad Naeem Akhtar, Kashif ur<br />

Rehman, Ahmed Imran Hunjra (2011) indicated<br />

that individual investors with higher educational<br />

qualifications have more intentions for short term<br />

investments as compared to the investors with other<br />

qualifications. The World Bank new flagship report<br />

(2012) discussed that the small group of highly<br />

educated has a saving rate of more than 20 percent,<br />

while the large group of least educated saves about<br />

10 percent. The analysis also shows that the more<br />

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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

educated have larger holdings of financial assets<br />

than the less educated ones.<br />

4.) Occupation - SK Das (2011) described that<br />

respondents having salaried income invested<br />

mostly in insurance products followed by banks,<br />

and stock market. Self-employed people also show<br />

the keen interest in insurance products as like as<br />

salaried people except next high degree of<br />

<strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong> the investment in case of share<br />

market followed by banks, mutual fund and<br />

property. Retired people invested mostly in banks<br />

followed by share market, mutual funds and<br />

insurance products. His study reveals that the<br />

association between the occupation and preferred<br />

investment avenue is not significant. NCAER<br />

report (2011), found that a rupee of surplus income<br />

distributed across investment options does not<br />

seem to be affected by the occupation of the head<br />

of the household. However Business and whitecollar<br />

workers hold more risky assets than their<br />

blue-collar counterparts. The World Bank new<br />

flagship report (2012) found self-employed<br />

households tend to save more, while households<br />

where there is a green card holder save less,<br />

controlling for the income effect. Prof Madhu<br />

Iyengar, Dr. Vijaylaxmi Iyengar and Dr. Shailesh<br />

Tripathi (2012) finds that salaried people and<br />

businessmen are inclined to invest more in risky<br />

assets and students invest in stock markets to make<br />

money with the aim of earning more. Ms. Babita<br />

Yadav and Dr. Anshuja Tiwari (2012) concluded<br />

that there is a no significant association between<br />

occupation and customer insurance investment<br />

decision.<br />

III. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY<br />

The present paper is concerned with fulfilling the<br />

following objectives:<br />

• To study the <strong>preference</strong> of the investors for<br />

different post office saving options.<br />

• To find out the factors that influence investors to<br />

invest among post office saving products.<br />

• To find out those factors that demotivates<br />

investors <strong>towards</strong> POSB schemes.<br />

• To study the impact of occupation and education<br />

variables on the investor’s behaviour <strong>towards</strong> post<br />

office saving schemes.<br />

IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY<br />

The changing technological environment and IT<br />

related services presents an enormous challenge for<br />

traditional postal banking business. Due to increase<br />

in number of financial products day by day, the<br />

investors’ behaviour would be changing<br />

significantly <strong>towards</strong> POSBs. To study the<br />

investor’s behaviour and reasons behind the<br />

interest of investors <strong>towards</strong> POSBs a sample size<br />

of 320 is chosen at random. Sample belongs from<br />

both the genders in different demographic<br />

characteristics. Questionnaire is used as a main tool<br />

to collect primary data. To test the hypothesis<br />

Pearson's chi-square test is applied. The analysis<br />

and interpretation of the data collected are<br />

represented in tables using SPSS software version<br />

20.<br />

V. DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS<br />

Table 01 provides demographic characteristics of<br />

the sample. A demographic characteristic of the<br />

respondents reveals that majority of the<br />

respondent’s falls in the age between 25-40 years.<br />

67.8 percent belong to male respondents. Most of<br />

the respondents (60.0 percent) are married. 26.9<br />

percent of the sample is having four family<br />

members. Sample is dominated by those<br />

respondents who have professional degree as<br />

indicated by 37.8 percent. Most of the respondents<br />

belong to category who is earning fifteen thousand<br />

to thirty thousand INR. 50.0 percent of respondents<br />

belong to salaried class category. Multiple response<br />

analysis (shown in table 02) was done with the help<br />

of SPSS version 15.0. The study reveals that 27.4<br />

percent of respondents are interested to invest in<br />

banks and 25.5 percent in insurance. 13.1 percent<br />

favour real assets to invest. 17.2 percent of the<br />

respondents finds good to invest in post-office.<br />

Mutual funds are preferred to direct investment in<br />

share market. 8.3 percent prefer mutual funds and<br />

7.1 percent prefer share market investment. Only<br />

1.4 percent respondents choose NBFCs as an<br />

investment avenue in their portfolio. NCAER<br />

report (2011) presented that find that mutual funds<br />

constitute the single largest allocation (40.8 per<br />

cent) compared to all other options, 21.25 per cent<br />

of all households prefer to invest in the secondary<br />

market. Other choices such as derivatives and<br />

bonds are even less preferred. The World Bank<br />

new flagship report (2012) found informal<br />

instruments of saving include gold, cash and<br />

foreign currency, as well as loans to family/ friends<br />

and businesses for savings of Turkish households.<br />

Dr. C. Thilakam and Dr. Ganesan (2012) observed<br />

that majority of the respondents have been<br />

comfortable with savings in fixed deposits, chits,<br />

post office etc. He inferred that 73.46 percent<br />

respondents have invested in life insurance<br />

policies, 57.07 percent investing in equity share<br />

market, 53.17 percent invested in gold/silver and<br />

62.63 percent invested in virtual real estate<br />

business. K. Senthil Kumar, C. Vijaya Banu, V.<br />

Lakshmana Gomathi Nayagam (2008) concludes<br />

that the rank <strong>preference</strong>s of the financial product<br />

studied are post office, bank deposit, gold, real<br />

estate, equity investment and mutual fund. Pravin<br />

Narayan Mahamuni, Santosh Kalabhau Apte and<br />

Dr. Anand Ganpatrao Jumle (2011) found that most<br />

of studied investors invest their money in<br />

insurance. As pointed in table 03, 38.2 percent of<br />

the respondents possess investment policy in post<br />

office and 46.5 percent do not possess investment<br />

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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

policy. Rests 15.3 percent of the respondents are<br />

interested to invest in post office in future period of<br />

time. Table 04 highlights the study of investment<br />

<strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong> various schemes of Indian <strong>Post</strong><br />

<strong>Office</strong>. It reveals that 27.2 percent respondents are<br />

interested to invest in 5-year post office RD<br />

account. 13.5 percent prefer NSC investments. 13.1<br />

percent finds good to invest in post-office saving<br />

account. 12.2 percent prefer monthly income<br />

account and 12.0 percent prefer KVP investment.<br />

Only 11.4 percent prefer time deposit account as an<br />

investment avenue option. Rest 6.8 percent and 3.7<br />

percent prefer 15-year PPF account and senior<br />

citizens savings schemes respectively. The analysis<br />

on factors that motivates investors to invest in post<br />

office saving account is pointed out in table 05. It<br />

brings out that 39.8 percent prefer post office<br />

savings because of safe, secure and risk-free<br />

investment. 19.2 percent invest because of tax-free<br />

interest on savings in post-office. To avail the tax<br />

benefit under sec. 80(c) of Income Tax Act 13.6<br />

percent prefer post office savings. 11.3 percent of<br />

the respondents perceive post office schemes to<br />

have attractive rate of interest. 6.9 percent<br />

<strong>preference</strong> is because there is a facility of<br />

nomination in post office. Remaining 1.2 percent<br />

each prefer post office to save due to benefit of<br />

changing nomination at any time and instruments<br />

are transferable to any post office anywhere in<br />

India. Pravin Narayan Mahamuni, Santosh<br />

Kalabhau Apte and Dr. Anand Ganpatrao Jumle<br />

(2011) found that most of the respondents invest<br />

money for tax saving purpose. Mixed replies as laid<br />

out in table 06 about sources of investment advice<br />

shows that 41.4 percent are inclined more on their<br />

relatives and colleagues. 12.6 percent of the<br />

investors acquire knowledge from newspapers,<br />

12.1 percent from financial advisors and 10.8<br />

percent from media. The other 23.1 percent do not<br />

take help of the above sources of investment<br />

advice. These percentages of investors’ replies in<br />

questionnaire shows that they invest as per their<br />

self-acquainted knowledge or some invest under<br />

the guidance of agents. Analysis on criteria of<br />

selecting an agent in table 07 represents that 38.4<br />

percent of the respondents select agent on the basis<br />

of having personal relationship with the agent. 32.1<br />

percent look at the facilities offered by the agent.<br />

25.8 percent choose agent on his performance<br />

basis. Remaining investors look at other factors<br />

while selecting agent. Multiple response analysis<br />

indicated in table 08 represents that 20.8 percent<br />

respondents are investing their money for the<br />

purpose of acquiring an asset. 23.0 percent invest<br />

for child’s education. Next purpose is for<br />

retirement and old age which occupies 25.7 percent<br />

of the respondents. Child’s marriage accounts for<br />

12.3 percent of the total respondents. 18.1 percent<br />

reveals that respondents are investing for other<br />

purposes like for future safety, saving, emergency,<br />

business expansion, reduce tax burden, for<br />

grandchildren. Works on the factors that discourage<br />

investors to investing in postal schemes (shown in<br />

table 09) disclose the following interpretation: Out<br />

of total respondents, maximum of respondents<br />

(20.3 percent) reported that they are not aware of<br />

the schemes of post office. 14.3 percent of the<br />

respondents say that less advertisement is the<br />

reason for low awareness. 11.1 percent of the<br />

respondents feel that the schemes are less<br />

attractive. 11.5 percent face the problem of IT<br />

related services. Respondents having a belief that<br />

postal savings generate low returns comprise 9.0<br />

percent of the total replies. 10.5 percent experience<br />

that it provide late and improper services. Out of<br />

total responses 7.0 percent do not find agents to be<br />

relied upon. 6.5 percent find liquidity problem i.e.<br />

they think that postal savings cannot be easily<br />

converted into cash. Incompatible hospitality<br />

produces a negative impact on postal savings;<br />

however 8.3 percent respondents realize hospitality<br />

of post office to be incompatible. 0.6 percent of the<br />

replies believe no guarantee of money return. Very<br />

few (0.8 percent) find that as capital appreciation is<br />

low in postal savings; it demotivates them to save<br />

in post office. In NCAER Report (2011) it was<br />

found that inadequate financial resources is the<br />

most import reason for not investing in secondary<br />

markets by household followed by inadequate<br />

information and no skills.<br />

Null Hypothesis (H 01) : “An individual’s<br />

<strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong> post office saving schemes is<br />

not related with educational qualification of the<br />

investors.”<br />

For 28 degree of freedom table value of chi-square<br />

at 5 percent level of significance is 41.337. While<br />

the calculated value (spot Table 10) is greater than<br />

table value, therefore null hypothesis is rejected.<br />

Thus, there is meaningful relationship between<br />

<strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong> post office saving schemes and<br />

educational qualification of respondents.<br />

Null Hypothesis (H 02) : “An individual’s<br />

inclination in direction of post office saving<br />

schemes is not associated by means of livelihood<br />

of the investors.”<br />

For 35 degree of freedom critical table value of chisquare<br />

is 107.4185566. In view of the fact that<br />

calculated value (table number 11) is less than table<br />

value, thus, null hypothesis is accepted. So, it is<br />

concluded that occupation and <strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong><br />

post-office savings schemes are not related.<br />

Null Hypothesis (H 03) : “<strong>Factors</strong> that motivate an<br />

individual to invest in the saving products of<br />

post office are not linked with educational<br />

qualification of the savers.”<br />

For 28 degree of freedom table value of Pearson’s<br />

chi-square test is at 5 percent level of significance<br />

is 41.337. As it can be seen from the table 12 that<br />

calculated value is greater than table value,<br />

consequently factors motivating investors to invest<br />

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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

in post-office saving schemes is related with<br />

educational qualification of investor. Therefore,<br />

null hypothesis is rejected.<br />

Null Hypothesis (H 04) : “Reasons to facilitate and<br />

stimulate an individual to invest in post office<br />

saving avenues are not allied by occupation of<br />

the investors.”<br />

Study to find out relationship between factors<br />

<strong>influencing</strong> saving in post office and occupation of<br />

investor is shown in table 13. Given that table<br />

value of at 5 percent level of significance and 35<br />

degree of freedom is 107.7302775, which is greater<br />

than calculated value. Hence, null hypothesis is<br />

accepted which shows that there is no sustainable<br />

relationship between the two variables.<br />

VI. SUGGESTIONS<br />

Data analysis highlights that <strong>preference</strong> <strong>towards</strong><br />

senior citizen saving scheme is very low (3.7<br />

percent) in the Garhwal region of Uttarakhand.<br />

Hence, to increase the awareness <strong>towards</strong> this<br />

scheme in Uttarakhand region management of post<br />

office should focus on specific promotion for<br />

Senior Citizens. Study also indicates that customers<br />

rely more on their friends and relatives in getting<br />

the information on investment avenues. So, it is<br />

suggested that a suitable communication through<br />

direct mailers or social media to be organized to<br />

increase the awareness of public. Facts and figures<br />

shown in table 07 represent that 38.4 percent of the<br />

respondents select agent on the basis of having<br />

personal relationship with the agent and some of<br />

the investors find agents to be unreliable. So a due<br />

care must be taken by the Indian <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> while<br />

selecting agents. Multiple responses shown in<br />

Table 08 indicate that 25.7 percent of the<br />

respondents are investing in preparation of<br />

retirement. Hence, Specific scheme featuring<br />

retirement benefits should be arranged. In respect<br />

of educational qualification, <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings<br />

and Investment products are generally preferred by<br />

professional degree holders. So POs can consider<br />

any special focused schemes to attract more<br />

investment from this group. <strong>Post</strong> office offers<br />

diversify schemes for different needs of society.<br />

But research explains that in Garhwal region of<br />

Uttarakhand, mostly salaried class of society is<br />

inclined <strong>towards</strong> banking schemes of post office.<br />

So, organization of post office should arrange for<br />

awareness programmes or turn to more innovative<br />

policies catering other class of society. Study<br />

indicates that72.6 percent of the respondents<br />

prefers postal savings due to its safety, security and<br />

tax benefits features. So Indian <strong>Post</strong>al Savings<br />

should keep up to provide these features in future<br />

also.<br />

Study points out that most of the respondents are<br />

unaware of the schemes offered by post office. Still<br />

a lot of awareness about new postal saving schemes<br />

is required and the reach of schemes should be<br />

checked. Many respondents find postal savings to<br />

be less attractive So, India <strong>Post</strong> should conduit its<br />

infrastructure, trust and related services into a<br />

much larger role offering innovativeness in<br />

schemes and redesigns its products with change in<br />

benefits. Investors agree that they are unaware of<br />

the postal saving products due to less advertisement<br />

and promotion. It signifies that less promotion is a<br />

big barrier to attract savings. <strong>Post</strong> office<br />

organization must use the different visual, audio<br />

and audio visual modes of advertisement to<br />

increase awareness and promote POSBs.<br />

Incompatible hospitality, improper IT related<br />

services and late services are major factors that<br />

discourage investors to saving in post office. Thus,<br />

there is need of creating a conducive and friendly<br />

work environment both for the staff and the<br />

customers visiting the <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong>s, providing all<br />

IT enabled services through secure connectivity,<br />

improving the service quality levels in <strong>Post</strong>al<br />

Savings Schemes.<br />

VII. CONCLUSION<br />

Study discloses that <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings Bank in<br />

India differentiates its offer by building a unique<br />

bundle of competitive advantage. It has positioned<br />

its postal saving products as differentiating on the<br />

important attributes of safety, security and risk free<br />

factor. POSBs are still preferred by investors as it<br />

is fully backed by government and functioning for<br />

long. The trust is high in investors where safety of<br />

the deposit money is more important issue than the<br />

returns on investments. The only problem lies is<br />

that it is not taking strong steps to deliver and<br />

communicate the desired position to target<br />

customers. It needs strong marketing efforts that<br />

support the positioning strategy. One of the<br />

important challenges <strong>towards</strong> Indian <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> is<br />

the revolution in IT (Computerization, networking,<br />

automation, process reengineering), which has<br />

provided automation technology to the banks and<br />

other financial institutions.<br />

REFERENCES<br />

• Akhtar, M. N.; ur Rehman, K.; Hunjra, A.I. (2011),<br />

“Determinants of Short Term Investment Decision Making”,<br />

Actual Problems Of Economics, Pp.11.<br />

• Chater, N.; Huck, S.; Inderst, R. (2010), “Consumer Decision-<br />

Making in Retail Investment Services: A Behavioural<br />

Economics Perspective”, Online Interactive Research Ltd,<br />

November.<br />

• Chaubey, D.S. (2009), “Investment Pattern: A Psychographic<br />

Study of Investors of Garhwal Region of Uttarakhand”, RVIM<br />

Journal of Management Research, Rashtreeya Sikshana Samithi<br />

Trust, R.V. Institute of Management, Bangalore, Vol. 1, No. 1,<br />

Jan-June 2009, pp. 36.<br />

• Collard, S. (2009), “Individual investment behaviour: A brief<br />

review of research”, Personal Finance Research Centre,<br />

University of Bristol, Final report, January.<br />

554


IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

• Das, S.K. (2011), “An Empirical Analysis on Preferred<br />

Investment Avenues among Rural and Semi-Urban<br />

Households”. Journal of Frontline Research in Arts and Science<br />

Vol. 01, pp. 26-36.<br />

• G, H.S.; Jacob, P. (2009), “<strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> savings and its<br />

relevance in rural areas- A study on the impetus for Rural<br />

Investment with reference to Kumbalangi in Cochin”,<br />

VIDWAT, The Indian Journal of Management, Dhruva College<br />

of Management, Hyderabad Vol. 2, ISS 1, Jan-June 2009, pp.<br />

26.<br />

• India <strong>Post</strong> (2012), <strong>Post</strong> Offfice Saving Schemes,<br />

http://www.indiapost.gov.in, accessed on 2 nd September 2012.<br />

• Issahaku, H. (2011), “Determinants of Saving and Investment<br />

in Deprived District Capitals in Ghana -A Case Study of<br />

Nadowli in the Upper West Region of Ghana”, Continental J.<br />

Social Sciences, 4 (1), pp. 1 - 12.<br />

• Kumar, K.S.; Banu, C.V.; Nayagam, V.L.G. (2008), “Financial<br />

product <strong>preference</strong>s of Tiruchirapalli investors using analytical<br />

hierarchy process and fuzzy multi criteria decision making”,<br />

Investment Management and Financial Innovations, Volume 5,<br />

Issue 1.<br />

• Mahamuni, P.N.; Apte, S.K.; Jumle, A.G. (2011), “A Study on<br />

Personal Financial Planning for IT Sector Investor in Pune”,<br />

International Journal of Management, IT & Engineering,<br />

Volume 1, Issue 5, October.<br />

• Merikas, A.A.; Merikas, A.G.; Vozikis, G.S.; Prasad, D.<br />

(2011), “Economic <strong>Factors</strong> and Individual Investor Behaviour:<br />

The Case of the Greek Stock Exchange”, Journal of Applied<br />

Business Research, Volume 20, Number 4.<br />

• Nagarajan, H.K.; Sethi, D.V.; Pradhan, K.C.; Mukherjee, S.;<br />

Singh, S.K.; Sethi, D.V.; Singh, J.P.; (2011), “How Households<br />

Save and Invest: Evidence from NCAER Household Survey”,<br />

National Council Of Applied Economic Research, Main Report,<br />

Sponsored by Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),<br />

July.<br />

• Prof Iyengar, M.; Iyengar, V.; Tripathi, S. (2012), “Emotional<br />

Perceptions Of People Towards Equity Market – An Empirical<br />

Study”, 4D International Journal of Management and Science,<br />

Vol. 2, Issue 2.<br />

The World Bank new flagship report (2012), “Turkey Country<br />

Economic Memorandum (CEM) on Sustaining High Growth:<br />

the Role of Domestic Savings”, conference in Ankara, organized<br />

jointly with the under secretariat of the Treasury and the<br />

Ministry of Development, March 14.<br />

• Thilakam, C.; Ganesan (2012), “Financial Literacy Among<br />

Rural Masses In India”, International Conference on Excellence<br />

in Business, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, University of<br />

Sharjah, 9-10 May.<br />

• Yadav, B.; Tiwari, A. (2012), “A Study on <strong>Factors</strong> Affecting<br />

Customers Investment <strong>towards</strong> Life Insurance Policies”,<br />

International Journal of Marketing, Financial Services &<br />

Management Research, Vol.1 Issue 7, July.<br />

555


Table 02: Preference <strong>towards</strong> Financial<br />

Products<br />

Sl. Descriptions Percentage<br />

No.<br />

1. <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> 17.2<br />

2. Bank 27.4<br />

3. Insurance 25.5<br />

4. Share Market 7.1<br />

5. Mutual Funds 8.3<br />

6. NBFC's 1.4<br />

7. Real Assets 13.1<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 03: Possession of <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong><br />

Schemes<br />

Sl. Descriptions Percentage<br />

No.<br />

1. Yes 38.2<br />

2. No 46.5<br />

3. Thinking To 15.3<br />

Invest In Future<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 04: Preference <strong>towards</strong> <strong>Post</strong><br />

<strong>Office</strong> Schemes<br />

Sl. Descriptions Percentage<br />

No.<br />

1. Savings Account 13.1<br />

2. RD Account 27.2<br />

3. TD Account 11.4<br />

4. MIS Account 12.2<br />

5. PPF Account 6.8<br />

6. KVP 12.0<br />

7. NSC 13.5<br />

8. SCSS 3.7<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

Annexure - Tables and Figures<br />

Table 01: Demographic Characteristics<br />

Categories Count Percentage<br />

Age Upto 25 Years<br />

81 25.3<br />

25-40 Years<br />

116 36.3<br />

40-50 Years<br />

67 20.9<br />

50-60 Years<br />

34 10.6<br />

Above 60 Years<br />

22 6.9<br />

Gender Male<br />

217 67.8<br />

Category Female<br />

103 32.2<br />

Marital Single<br />

128 40.0<br />

Status Married<br />

192 60.0<br />

Family Size<br />

Education<br />

Level<br />

Monthly<br />

Income<br />

Occupation<br />

Upto 2 Members<br />

Upto 3 Members<br />

Upto 4 Members<br />

Upto 5 Members<br />

Upto 6 Members<br />

More Than 6 Members<br />

Class X And Below<br />

XII<br />

Graduate<br />

<strong>Post</strong>-Graduate<br />

Professional Degree<br />

Less Than Rs. 15000<br />

From Rs. 15,000 To Rs. 30,000<br />

From Rs. 30,000 To Rs. 50,000<br />

More Than Rs. 50,000<br />

Job<br />

Business<br />

Retired<br />

Professional<br />

House-Wife<br />

Student<br />

45<br />

59<br />

86<br />

77<br />

30<br />

23<br />

26<br />

27<br />

77<br />

69<br />

121<br />

89<br />

135<br />

63<br />

33<br />

160<br />

57<br />

9<br />

30<br />

33<br />

31<br />

14.1<br />

18.4<br />

26.9<br />

24.1<br />

9.4<br />

7.2<br />

8.1<br />

8.4<br />

24.1<br />

21.6<br />

37.8<br />

27.8<br />

42.2<br />

19.7<br />

10.3<br />

50.0<br />

17.8<br />

2.8<br />

9.4<br />

10.3<br />

9.7<br />

556


IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

Table 05: <strong>Factors</strong> Influencing to Invest<br />

in <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong><br />

Sl. Descriptions Percentage<br />

No.<br />

1. Tax-Free Interest 19.2<br />

2. Safe, Secure And 39.8<br />

Risk-Free<br />

Investment<br />

3. Nomination<br />

6.9<br />

Facility Is<br />

Available<br />

4. Attractive Rates Of 11.3<br />

Interest<br />

5. Nomination Can 1.2<br />

Be Changed At<br />

Any Time<br />

6. Instruments Are 1.2<br />

Easily Transferable<br />

7. Regular Monthly 6.9<br />

Income<br />

8. Tax Benefit 13.6<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 06: Sources of Investment Advice<br />

Sl. No. Descriptions Percentage<br />

1. From Relatives & 41.4<br />

Colleagues<br />

2. From Newspapers 12.6<br />

3. From Financial 12.1<br />

Advisors<br />

4. From Media 10.8<br />

5. Other Sources 23.1<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 07: Criteria of Selecting an Agent<br />

Sl. No. Descriptions Percentage<br />

1. Personal<br />

38.4<br />

Relationship With<br />

The Agent<br />

2. Performance Of 25.8<br />

The Agent<br />

3. Facilities Offered 32.1<br />

By The Agent<br />

4. Other <strong>Factors</strong> 3.7<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 08: Purpose of Investment<br />

Sl. No. Descriptions Percentage<br />

1. For Retirement 25.7<br />

And Old Age<br />

2. Acquiring An 20.8<br />

Asset<br />

3. Child's Education 23.0<br />

4. Child's Marriage 12.3<br />

5. Other Purposes 18.1<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 09: Variables having negative<br />

impact on <strong>Post</strong> <strong>Office</strong> Savings<br />

Sl. No. Descriptions Percentage<br />

1. Poor Awareness 20.3<br />

2. Less aware due 14.3<br />

to Less<br />

advertisement<br />

3. Less Attractive 11.1<br />

4. Low return 9.0<br />

5. Problem of 6.5<br />

liquidity<br />

6. Low Capital 0.8<br />

Appreciation<br />

7. Problem of IT 11.5<br />

557


IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

and technology<br />

related services<br />

(e-payment)<br />

8. Late and<br />

10.5<br />

improper service<br />

(not satisfied<br />

with service)<br />

9. Agents not 7.0<br />

reliable<br />

10. incompatible 8.3<br />

Hospitality<br />

11. No guarantee of 0.6<br />

return of money<br />

Total Responses 100.0<br />

Table 11: Degree of Association between Customer Preference <strong>towards</strong> POSBs and<br />

their Occupation<br />

Descriptions Occupation<br />

Total<br />

Job Business Retired Professional<br />

House<br />

-Wife Student<br />

Savings<br />

Account 37 10 0 4 7 5 63<br />

RD Account 63 21 4 14 15 14 131<br />

TD Account 23 10 2 8 6 6 55<br />

MIS account 31 8 5 4 6 5 59<br />

PPF account 22 7 0 4 0 0 33<br />

KVPs 32 11 2 4 7 2 58<br />

NSC 40 10 1 10 1 3 65<br />

SCSS 6 3 3 4 2 0 18<br />

Total 16<br />

0 57 9 30 33 31 320<br />

Pearson Chi-Square critical calculated value=57.86259023<br />

Table 10: Degree of Association between Customers Preference <strong>towards</strong> POSBs and<br />

their Educational Qualification<br />

Descriptions Educational Qualification<br />

Class X and<br />

<strong>Post</strong>- Professional Total<br />

Below XII Graduate Graduate Degree<br />

Savings Account 9 8 11 14 21 63<br />

RD Account 9 13 29 33 47 131<br />

TD Account 0 4 12 11 28 55<br />

MIS account 5 6 14 16 18 59<br />

PPF account 1 0 6 5 21 33<br />

KVPs 5 2 22 11 18 58<br />

NSC 1 3 15 17 29 65<br />

SCSS 2 0 3 5 8 18<br />

Total 26 27 77 69 121 320<br />

Pearson Chi-Square critical calculated value=43.36590442<br />

Table 12: Degree of Association between Motivating <strong>Factors</strong> <strong>towards</strong> POSBs and<br />

their Educational Qualification<br />

Descriptions Educational Qualification<br />

Total<br />

Class X<br />

And<br />

Below XII Graduate<br />

<strong>Post</strong>-<br />

Graduate<br />

Professional<br />

Degree<br />

Tax-Free Interest 5 9 26 20 49 109<br />

Safe, Secure and<br />

Risk-Free<br />

Investment 22 15 51 48 90 226<br />

Nomination<br />

Facility is<br />

Available 5 2 8 5 19 39<br />

Attractive Rates<br />

of Interest 1 4 17 12 30 64<br />

Nomination can<br />

be changed at<br />

any time 0 0 2 0 5 7<br />

Instruments are<br />

Transferable 0 1 0 0 6 7<br />

Regular Monthly<br />

Income 3 4 10 11 11 39<br />

Tax Benefit<br />

1 4 12 22 38 77<br />

558


IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563<br />

Vol. 2, No.6, December 2012<br />

Under sec.80c of<br />

Income Tax Act<br />

Total 26 27 77 69 121 320<br />

Pearson Chi-Square critical calculated value=42.60622093<br />

Table 13: Degree of Association between Motivating <strong>Factors</strong> <strong>towards</strong> POSBs and their<br />

Occupation<br />

Descriptions<br />

Occupation<br />

Total<br />

Tax-Free<br />

I<br />

Safe,<br />

t<br />

Secure<br />

t<br />

and Risk-<br />

Free<br />

Job Business Retired Professional<br />

House<br />

-Wife<br />

Student<br />

60 16 2 14 7 10 109<br />

10<br />

9 41 8 23 26 19 226<br />

Nomination<br />

Facility is<br />

Available 23 4 1 1 10 0 39<br />

Attractive<br />

Rates of 37 9 2 5 6 5 64<br />

Nomination<br />

can be<br />

changed at 5 1 0 0 1 0 7<br />

Instruments<br />

are 5 1 0 0 1 0 7<br />

Regular<br />

Monthly 19 4 4 3 5 4 39<br />

Tax Benefit<br />

Under<br />

sec.80c of 45 15 0 14 1 2 77<br />

Total 16<br />

0<br />

57 9 30<br />

Pearson Chi-Square critical calculated value=58.0184507<br />

33 31 320<br />

559

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