efficient way.

The nature of the research topic was such that we had decided tofocus on the age group of 20 to 35 years though care was taken to spread the questionnaire to the maximum audience.3.2 Sampling Plan:The sampling will be convenience sampling.Convenience sampling is used in exploratory research where the researcher is interested in getting an inexpensive approximation of the truth. As the name implies, the sample is selected because they are convenient. This non-probability method is often used during preliminary research efforts to get a gross estimate ofthe results, without incurring the cost or time required to select a random sample.Non-Probability sampling was used as online trading is a service which not everybody in the population would be aware of, willing, and able to afford.The target population was defined as people who were likely to know about or purchase paid online trading services. The sampling methods adopted for the study consisted of convenience and judgment sampling.4. Design of Questionnaire:The various stages of questionnaire design were meticulously followed. First, the exact kind of information sought in terms of the skew between qualitative andquantitative data and the amount of depth in the data we wanted to capture was decided upon. Since our objective was to clearly understand the characteristics of customer behavior in addition to getting a preliminary insight into certain intangibles that also play a crucial role in a typical customers trading habits, the questionnaire was designed keeping these particular objectives in mind.This specifically translated into questions that were largely multichotomous with a few open ended questions. Emphasis was given to the wording of questions toensure unambiguous, easily understandable questions considering the sample thatwe had in mind. Thus, relevant demographic questions were also incorporated. Inaddition, a lot of emphasis was given to the sequencing of questions since it has direct bearing on the respondent behavior.The questionnaire is shown in Appendix.5. Data Collection:Data Collection was carried out in alignment with our sampling plan. A google spreadsheet was sent to the respondents to submit their responses. As discussed inthe research methodology our focus was to understand the preference of the younger age group people who are more comfortable with the online trading services.6. Data Analysis and Interpretation of Results:6.1 Data AnalysisThe total sample size in the survey conducted was 105 of which 5.7% of the respondents were less than 20 years of age, majority of the survey takers belonged tothe age group of 20-25 years, the percentage of which stood at 80.95%. People falling in the age group 25-30 years constituted 7.6% of the total sample, while5.7% were over 30 years of age.While numbers in the age parameter showed bias towards a particular age group, the other parameter Salary showed a rather balanced distribution wherein there hasbeen somewhat equal participation in the less than Rs 200000 and Rs 200000-500000 group. The factors that were considered during the analysis and that have an impact onconsumers mind while choosing a brokerage house have been listed as :-1 . O n l i n e S e r v i c e s 2 . R e p u t a t i o n o f t h e f i r m 3 . T i p s 4 . M a r k e t R e s e a r c h a n d A n a l y s i s 5 . F a s t e r S e r v i c e 6 . S e c u r i t y 7 . A c q u a i n t a n c e 8 . R e f e r r a l s f r o m f r i e n d s a n d f a m i l y The analysis will be done according to the salary groups keeping in mind the various factors that are responsible in choosing a brokerage firm. The questions asked have pitted brokerage amount against the services that a customer would desire for. Hence the graphs plotted will tell the extent the customers would go fora particular service. Figure 1: Brokerage vs. Online ServiceIn the above graph, the lower income group have shown more proclivity towards using online services as compared to the higher income groups. On a scale of 5, respondents with salary less than 200000 have given a rating of 2.46 (mid way between a little and moderate) for preference towards online services.Figure 2: Brokerage vs. TipsPeople surveyed have not responded well to the tips received from the broker. The graph above stresses on the fact that people belonging to the higher income group are more likely to pay extra money for getting tips from the broker as compared to the lower income groups. Also it strengthens the fact that people with lower incomes are not very upbeat about paying extra

money for the tips. Figure 3: ReputationThe market reputation is one of the significant factors in assessing performanceof the broker. It has been the single most influencing factor amongst all the factors considered across all the age groups. Again people with higher salaries have favoured the reputation with whopping majority. In case of the lower salarygroups (<5,00,000), people have given a rating of 3.85 on an average ( more towards Mostly) . Figure 4: Brokerage vs. Analysis & ReportsMarket analysis and reports has been given greater weight by the respondents with lower incomes as compared to the higher income groups. This can be attributedto the amateurishness of the people with lower incomes as they may not be awareabout the technicalities of the markets. Figure 5: Brokerage vs. Response TimeThe response time has been a major priority for the customers as everybody is looking for quick responses from the broking firm. People falling in the 5,00,000-10,00,000 INR bracket are more expected to disburse extra money in exchange of better response time as compared to other salary groups. Also surprisingly, people with salaries above 10,00,000 are satisfied with the response time. Figure 6: Security vs. Faster ServiceWhile faster service has always been wanted by the customers, in recent turbulent times the security of the money invested has also been of paramount importance . Based on the graph, people have still voted for security as opposed to fasterservice, which can be accredited to the recent uncertain times. Irrespective ofthe income range people rated security higher than faster service. Figure 7: Reputation vs. TipsThe people surveyed were asked to give their preferences between two factors i.e. reputation and tips, where most of the people seem to have given a clear majority to reputation over tips received, as most of the people surveyed had salaries below 5,00,000. Also, it reinforces the earlier analysis that people favouredreputation more than any other factor. Figure 8: Reputation vs. AcquaintanceA personal acquaintance with a broker with lesser reputation seems to have preference only with the population having medium high salary range (5,00,000-10,00,000). Others have shown a high preference for reputation of the brokerage house over any other factor considered in our study. Figure 9: ReferralsSuggestions from family and friends may very often influence the decision to gofor a particular broker, and it is also portrayed by the above graph where people surveyed have agreed to have considered the advices of their friends and relatives. The higher income groups have resorted to their help more than the lower income groups.7. Conclusions and RecommendationsThus our study proves that the most important factors while choosing a brokeragefirm are firms reputation and referrals by friends and relatives. Our recommendations for a brokerage firm looking to increase its market share will be to comeup with different pricing and services products according to the target customer. Having such a diverse portfolio of products will allow the firm to target a bigger market and hence with competitive rates also capture a greater market share.8. References1 ) w w w . i n v e s t o p e d i a . c o m 2 ) w w w . w i k i p e d i a . o r g 3 ) w w w . s h a r e k h a n . c o m 4 ) w w w . i c i c i d i r e c t . c o m 5 ) h t t p : / / e n c y c l o p e d i a . f a r l e x . c o m / b r o k e r a g e + f i r m 9. Appendix:9.1 Questionnaire:Section 1: Demographic InformationA g e ( Y e a r s ) ( 1 ) < 2 0 ( 2 ) 2 0 2 5 ( 3 ) 2 6 -30 (4) >30Income Group (1)<2,00,000 (2)2,00,000 5,00,000(3) 5,00,000 10,00,000 (4) >10,00,000M a r i t a l S t a t u s : _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ G e n d e r : M a l e / F e m a l e _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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Section 2 :1-How willing are you to pay extra money for online trading services?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 2- How much will you consider the reputation of the brokerage?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 3- How willing are you to pay extra money for regular detailed research reportsand market analysis?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 4- How willing are you to pay extra money for better response time?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y5-Till what extent can you compromise on security on faster service?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 6- Till what extent can you compromise on reputation for better tips?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 7- Till what extent can you compromise on reputation for personal aquaintance incase of brokerage?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y 8-What kind of broker will you prefer to open a account withA - F u l l s e r v i c e ( T r a d i t i o n a l ) B D i s c o u n t . 9-Till what extent would you consider referral by friends or relatives?( 1 ) N o t a t a l l ( 2 ) A l i t t l e ( 3 ) M o d e r a t e l y ( 4 ) M o s t l y ( 5 ) F u l l y