Browsing by Author "Wijesundara, C.B."

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An Analysis on Sustainable Tourism Development in Sri Lanka (A study based on Stakeholders’ Attitudes and Actions).
(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Amzal, A.A.M.; Wijesundara, C.B.
This study presents a conceptual model for analyzing residents’ attitudes towards sustainable actions in tourism development; define whether there are different kinds of residents in coastal communities in Southern Sri Lanka who have different levels of care for sustainable actions in tourism development. In this study researcher has investigated to find out most significant dimension as community attachment, quality of life, land use, cultural offerings, government services and infrastructure and impacts of tourism; and residents’ attitudes towards sustainable tourism. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting the stakeholder’s attitudes towards sustainable actions in tourism development and to provide useful information to coastal tourism planners who are trying to incorporate sustainable actions in their societies. Descriptive research method was employed and self administrated questionnaire and face to face interview were used to gather primary data from the 100 respondents Cronbach's alpha has been used to test the reliability of gathered data. SPSS software was used for processing and analyzing the data. The indicators which represent each dimension have high/moderate relationship with the dependent variable and the influence made by each dimension for sustainable tourism explained with specific managerial implications.
The effectiveness of the strategies adapted by Super Markets to attract the customers: with special reference to the Western Province
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Herath, H.M.R.P.; Wijesundara, C.B.
Factors Affecting on Consumer Attitude towards Mobile Advertising: with Special Reference to Fast Food Industry
(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Chathurangee, Upeshika.K.L.; Wijesundara, C.B.
In Sri Lanka mobile advertising is not used hundred present effectively as mobile advertising is not in its maturity stage. But after identifying consumer attitudes towards mobile advertising, it can be made suggestions for the development of the mobile advertising as a new media. The present research is focused on “the factors effect on consumer attitudes toward mobile advertising and the impact made by those factors on customer attitude with special reference to fast food industry”. The key objective of this research is to find out the factors effect on customer attitudes toward mobile advertising. The specific objectives of this study are to investigate the most prominent factor of mobile advertising that effects on customer attitude and to measure the impact of each factor on the customer attitude. The research design used in the research is quantitative and descriptive research design has been used. The researcher used both primary data as well as secondary data. Researcher has collected primary data by a questionnaire and 200 respondents were participated. The collected data was analyzed by using SPSS and Microsoft Excel. Researcher has found that credibility of the mobile advertisement and permission based advertising highly impact on consumer attitude towards mobile advertising.
Factors affecting online purchase decisions of Sri Lankan consumer: with special reference to Western province
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Herath, H.M.R.P.; Wijesundara, C.B.
Factors affecting the doctors prescription towards multivitamin and mineral preparation
(The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM) Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2015) Wijesundara, C.B.; Kanakarathna, P.
The pharmaceutical industry in Sri Lanka has become very competitive and among its main product categories Multivitamin and Mineral Preparations (MMPs) which consist of collection of vitamins and Minerals, have become even more competitive due to the nature of the product. The target audience of the category consists of three types of customer’s namely medical practitioners, pharmacists and patients. The main objective of the research was to investigate the factors influence on willingness to prescribe MMP by medical practitioners. The factors were identified under Six independent variables namely product quality, price, sales promotion, brand name, reference groups and patient knowledge. The dependent variable was willingness to prescribe. For the dependent and independent variables, hypotheses were developed and primary data for the research was collected by conducting a survey and data were collected from 100 local medical practitioners in government hospital and general practitioners. Data was analyzed using SPSS and correlation analysis was carried out to test the hypotheses. From the findings of the research several factors can be identified which may be useful for the management. That is the management need to develop MMPs with unique characteristics, attractive packages, creative brand names, effective pricing strategies and improve the product knowledge of sales personnel. As a conclusion by implementing the various strategies to cope with above factors the company makes it possible to achieve its objectives.
The Impact of Sex Appeal Advertising on Organizational Sales
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Herath, H.M.R.P.; Wijesundara, C.B.
Among the various advertising appeals such as appeals of hum or, fear and sex; sex appeal is somewhat argumentative amongst the general public. The main argument that they put forward is whether the appropriate organizations can have an impact of using sex appeal on their advertisements. Therefore, it is highly appropriate to look at this issue empirically and find out whether there is an impact of sex appeal advertising on sales. T his paper, therefore attempts to identify the degree of impact of sex appeal advertising on sales. At the same time, researchers tried to find out the relationship between the demographic characteristics of the people and their attitudes towards sex appeal advertisements. Research was based on primary and secondary data. To collect primary data a representative survey and some interviews were conducted with the general public and depth interviews were conducted with a few top executives from selected companies. The sample was selected based on cluster sampling method on the basis of demographic characteristics. Two hundred people were selected among the general public and 25 managers among the organizations for the sample. Findings showed that though the general public openly criticizes sex appeal advertisements unknowingly they are effective in motivating them to buy those products. Therefore, the study concludes that there is a greater impact of using sex appeal in advertisements on sales. Further, it was found that there are some differences between the attitudes of people towards sex appeal advertising in terms of their demographic characteristics such as gender, education level and place of residence.
The Impact of Social Media on Brand Image: A Study of Higher Education Industry in Sri Lanka
(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Fernando, S.R.C.; Wijesundara, C.B.
The basic purpose behind this research is to find out the impact of successful Social web. Companies are constantly monitor its changes of the brand image. However it’s also necessary for them to take into account the rapid spread of social media and the rising number of social media users. Each company’s aim is to create positive brand image or if not positive, then at least an image that will lead to profitable results, leading positions on the market and opportunities for future growth. Therefore the analysis of social media and what is the effectiveness of social media platforms on organizations image toward brands will provide efficient and helpful insights for companies. Based on a sample of 200 respondents drawn from students of higher education institutes in Colombo, the study measured the relationship between social media and brand image following the quantitative methodology of conducting research. Researcher utilized the questionnaire method as the mean of primary data collection. Gathered data was analyzed using SPSS software and correlation and regression were used as the main inferential statistics to verify the relationship. Findings from this study provide some insights for the higher education industry. Firstly, with the use of social media, companies can create and enhance its brand image and subsequently lead to attract customers. Especially in private sector universities need to attract more customers to make the profit. But when it comes to the state universities it is important to create and maintain the relationship between students and university. However, marketers must keep in mind that the Social media is a great tool that influences brand image as social media is two way communication method. While the viral marketing information is seem to be trusted by users, marketers should prioritize and implement them in their advertising strategy.
The Impact of the Gender of the Customer oii Evaluation of Service Quality in Banking Industry of Sri Lanka
(University of Kelaniya, 2007) Wijesundara, C.B.; Fernando, P.M.P.
Service quality continues to be a significant issue in the banking industry. Because money and other financial services are generally undifferentiated produc{s, banks are continually striving for increased service quality in order to achieve and maintain a competitive edge through the customer satisfaction. Authors of this paper discuss the service quality of banks on the basis of their customers' perceptions, and analyse how gender differences of customers affect perceptions of service quality dimensions such as responsiveness, assurance, tangibles, reliability, and empathy and examine the overall effect to the customer satisfaction. The sample of 460 retail banking customers from both private and public commercial banks of Western Province was selected due to the resource limitation of carrying out the research in island wide. Using the SERVQUAL instrument responses were gathered and responses of the sample was examined using factor analysis and t-test to determine whether gender differences are present in the sample and to what extent the influence of gender of consumer impacts on customer satisfaction. The results support the hypothesis that gender affects service quality perceptions and the relative importance attached to various banking service quality dimensions. The female respondents of the sample have shown a positive perception to empathy, responsiveness and assurance with compared to male counterparts and male respondents are more concerned on tangibles and reliability of the service quality and they were more inclined to the process quality and product quality than the interaction quality. This paper provides important information for bank managers to use in developing operational, human resource, and marketing strategies, and in targeting those strategies in terms of the gender differences in quality perceptions among their customers.
The Impact of Web Quality on Consumer’s Offline Patronage Decision (With Special Reference to Casual Dining Restaurant Industry in Colombo).
(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Anushika, B.M.G.L.; Wijesundara, C.B.
The role of web sites has grown significantly in recent years. Previously known for being a marketing tool to supplement the efforts of salespeople and retail outlets, web sites now fulfill a vital function in the consumer’s buying behavior. Web sites are frequently utilized because of their convenience, allowing browsers to visit 24 hours a day, seven days a week and provide potential customers the ability to comparison shop multiple brands and/or products. Previous research has shown that web sites can be an important tool for hospitality and tourism marketing. Oftentimes, restaurant companies are found in a position of embracing the presence of a company web site as the complete internet marketing solution. Restaurant websites appear to be fairly strong in providing information in a technologically savvy environment. The primary focus of this research is on web site quality of casual dining restaurants in Colombo to study its relationship with consumer offline patronage decision. Based on a sample of 188 respondents drawn from Colombo district, the study measured the relationship between web quality and patronage decision following the quantitative methodology of conducting research. Researcher utilized the questionnaire method as the mean of primary data collection. The results proved that there exists a moderately strong yet positive relationship between web quality and consumer offline patronage decision. This research will give industry practitioners some insight in to the perceptions regarding the quality of web sites and how it will generate more patrons to the business in order to allow the organizations to make changes to their web strategy accordingly.
Infant Formula Promotion and Infant Feeding Practices
(2011) Wijesundara, C.B.
Promoting breast milk substitutes among feeding mothers is an arguable topic over the years and health authorities recommend exclusive breast feeding for infants till they reach six months of age. But promoting breast milk substitutes within that age limit by infant formula companies can be seen all over the world. Using direct and indirect promotional campaigns infant formula companies reach feeding mothers. Sri Lanka is no exception for this practice. A survey was carried out to examine the impact of infant food promotional activities on infant feeding practices in Gampaha district. 100 mothers who have infants below one year of age were selected randomly at clinics and interviewed by using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, regression and correlation were used to analyze data gathered. The results suggest that medical practitioners? advices on nutrition and family pressure for breast milk substitutes have a great impact on formula feeding.
A Study on The Factors Influence on Buying Intention of Life Insurance (with Special Reference to Colombo and Gampaha Districts in Sri Lanka) .
(Department of Marketing Management, University of Kelaniya, 2016) Fernando, M. R. L.; Wijesundara, C.B.
Low penetration levels in life insurance business reflect that the people have lower level of purchasing intention of life insurance. This situation leaves a question on why the purchasing or buying intention of people on life insurance is at a lower level in Sri Lanka despite of the benefits provided by a life insurance policy. Based on this situation, the research problem is formulated as “What are the factors influencing the buying intention of life insurance?” The main research objective of the study is to study the factors influencing the customers’ buying intention of life insurance. In addition to that, specific objectives of the study constitute of identifying key factors, highest influencing factor and demographic factors on buying intention of life insurance while providing valuable recommendations to the management. The methodology for testing the hypothesis contains a quantitative survey. That indicates this research uses the deductive approach. While data gathering was carried out utilizing both primary and secondary sources, a standard questionnaire was used as the main method of gathering data for the research. Descriptive statistics tools such as mean, standard deviation, range, and inferential statistics tools such as correlation, and ANOVA were used in order to analyze the data gathered through questionnaire. According to analyzed data, while there is a positive relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable which represents buying intention, the highest positive correlation exists between the long terms benefits of a life insurance policy and the buying intention on life insurance.