preferenCe of e-biKe by Women in india–a niChe marKet for auto manufaCturers

. The increasing urbanization with climate change, global warming issues and the related need to decarbonize the economy, is forcing urgency for identifying the alternate source for the global adoption and sustainable scalable solutions. The country’s demographic and road patterns and its natural resources availability provide enormous scope for the electric bike industry. As per the “Navigant Research Report”, it is predicted that by 2018, the sales of electric vehicles in India will shoot up by 17 percent. 1.1 million electric vehicles will be targeted within next five years. A recent study on the environment impact of e­bikes with other forms of transportation found that e­bikes are about 18 times more energy consumption than SUV, 13 times than a sedan, 6 times more than rail transit, and it is having considered as an innovated conventional bicycle. It is a frugal in­ novation strategy which provide safe carbon free environment, and moreover a part of health rehabilitation programmes. It is required that societal, economic and political and infrastructure systems integrate together to balance the energy environment. With this potential, the era of electric bike started its new avenues on the roads of India specifically focusing on Indian women. To develop this viewpoint, the present study focuses on the preference of e­bike among the women in Madurai city.


Introduction
The passenger vehicle sector is addressing the need for next generation transportation which is technically innovated, safer, friendly to the environment and flexible to the users. An electric vehicle (EV), also known as a battery operated vehicle (BOV) or electric bike comes in different configura tions: 2wheeler electric bicycles, electric mopeds, electric scooters, electric motorcycles, electric three wheelers and electric cars. Electric Vehicle (EV) technology and usage is still in its infant stage. Technical advancements and com mercializing the potential product in the market is in the way of present trend. Despite its slowness and setbacks the hybrid and pure electric vehicle business is set to continue an upward trend through 2013, posting profits and growth of awareness, small domestic production, and higher cost, a lack of government initiative, an often irregular power grid, and almost no proper charging stations.
Making the electric bike vehicles more conduci ve to users, the industry will take up years to grow with the present market share in the short term. According to the Motorcycle Industry Council, share of the female ow nership is up to 10% of the total motorcycle owner popu lation. Ebike manufactures are becoming aware of the in creasing market and the buying power of women group and are now targeting the woman rider on Indian roads. Hence, the present study focuses on the awareness and preferences of ebike among the women in Madurai City.

Review of literature
The literature reveals that worldwide CO 2 emissions from the combustion of various fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas were expected to exceed 40 billion metric tons by 2030 (Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the US Government). However, pure electric vehicles that were po wered solely by the battery could contribute to a great extent to the reduction of the same. Hatwar et al. (2013) projected a new approach in the design of ebike which consists of hybrid system of battery and super capacitor for increasing speed, and avoid the complaints of long charging time and short lifespan of battery.
Many researchers (Ji et al. 2013;Xu et al. 2013) have expressed their opinion towards environment compact de sign of ebike that compared to other transit modes (car, public transport, taxi and twowheeler), ebikes are relea sing less greenhouse gas per person. In some countries; the government started subsidizing the purchase of electric ve hicles. Countries like Isreal, which are greatly concerned with energy security issues, realized the potential of the electric vehicles and initiated measures to increase the percentage of such vehicles on road. Although electric bikes proved to be fuelefficient and environmentalfriendly, they had some limitations from the consumer perspective.The Adoption of Lithiumion batteries addressed this concern to some extent; it also improved the driving range per charge and the lifetime of the batteries. According to analysts, the technology was best suited for small countries or big metropolitan areas, with a high population density. These places offered scope for sca lability of the charging network. But in very large countries, establishing the network would be a cumbersome task and the return on investment might not be commensurate with the risks involved. In Europe, the electric vehicles market was estimated to exceed 250000 units by 2015, according to a study by Frost & Sullivan in October 2008. Among emer ging nations, observers expected China to take the lead in electrification of road transportation. According to a recent research report, India becoming the thirdlargest market for electric vehicles in the world within 5 years (Navigant Research Report 2014). The ecological concerns of using two wheelers in urban areas have supported the quick develo pment of electric vehicles in the world in recent years (Chiu, Tzeng 1999). A comparative (Cherry, Cervero 2007) analysis were made within two cities in China for examine the mo tive behind the usage of electric vehicles. The study output was little diverse in opinion that people preferred ebike as a higher quality mobility option only to a public transport. A survey was conducted by Weinert et al. (2007) in a medium populated city having high usage of twowheelers in China to find out their preferences towards ebike.
The study concluded that people shifting towards ebike from public transport and specifically women felt it is reliable while crossing roads compared with other bikes. But they recommended increasing the ebike speed capacity. Along with the market aspect of ebike, the safety practices also required to publicize the same. A study by Abdullah et al. (2013) has confirmed that the customer preference and their order of importance, price, quality of service, branding are considered to be the important customer dimensions in au tomobile industry. Knowing these dimensions relative influ ence may result in better allocation of resources for effective services in electric vehicle industry. A recent survey (Du et al. 2013;Yao, Wu 2012) has remarked the onroad traffic safety practices and riding behaviours among ebikers in a develo ped city in China. This study revealed that the vital need for developing road regulations and attitudinal interventions to enhance the safety practices among ebikers in China because it is associated with both gender and driving experience of public (Yao, Wu 2012).
With huge market potential, the industry is customizing its ebike models specifically for women users. A survey was conducted by Calfee (1985) to identify consumer preferences for electric vehicles attributes like price, operating cost, and comfort. The result indicated a great diversity of opinion in comfort and speed of the vehicle. Cervero (2002) study also recognized new dimensions such as cost and socioeconomic attributes of travellers other than core dimensions -density, diversity and design of electronic vehicles. Relatively very few studies have been conducted in favoring ebike from the market side.The study highlighted the individuals' gen der, age, occupation and income have its own impact on the choice of ebike. Another study was conducted (Larouche et al. 2013) to popularise the active transportation (wal king, cycling/ebike) habit among school going children in Canada. The study contended that social marketing campai gns of creating environmental awareness in one's lifestyle are a prerequisite for ebike manufacturer. The promising fea tures of zeroemission, less noise level and power efficiency of ebike has contributed towards preferring female motorist as one of the potential target market in India has made the researchers to conduct the present study in India.

Methodology
The present study is based on descriptive analysis. Primary data is used to study the objectives and for testing the hy potheses. A well reviewed structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data. The primary data used for the study were collected for a period of two months from 1 st April 2013 to 31 st May 2013.

Statement of the problem
The notion of customer preferences is always an electrifying topic for researchers. The expression of customer willin gness and their preferences helps the industry to differen tiate it with others while capturing the market share. Being customer centric is the core strategy for the manufacturers to be successful in the market. Madurai is an important agrarian, industrial and educational hub in South Tamil Nadu. The city is home to various automobile, rubber, che mical and granite manufacturing industries and famed for its jasmine flower plantations. The livelihood of many small and agrarian based businesses has been carried out mostly by women in and around Madurai city and they mainly rely on bicycle or public transportation for commuting. A study done by Ye et al. (2014), pointed out the relations hip between the choice of activities and their preference towards vehicles. Thus the aim of this research paper is to understand whether the choice of ebike for women serves the various purposes such as for commuting and develo ping their business and to identify the factors influencing the purchase of the ebike.
Objectives of the study -To identify the awareness level of respondents to wards ebike in Madurai City. -To determine the factors that influences the respon dents' preference towards ebike. -To analyze the respondents' level of satisfaction to wards the use of ebike on the roads of Madurai City.

Sampling area
Madurai city is the third largest city and second largest corporation in Tamil Nadu, India and it has been a ma jor settlement for two millennia and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. According to 2011 census, Madurai had a genderratio of 999 females for every 1,000 males; much above the national average of 929. The geographical area of Madurai city was used as the sample area. The Questionnaire was distributed in person randomly to the respondents in Madurai city. Based on this, 1100 women respondents of Madurai city were opined their views for the study.

Statistical tools applied for analysis
The techniques used for analysis are Frequency analysis, ChiSquare test and Friedman Twoway ANOVA.

Analysis and interpretation
Demographic characteristics 62% of the respondents were from rural areas of Madurai and the rest were from urban areas. The mean monthly family income of the respondents was Rs. 33450.52. 17.2% of the total respondents were educated upto10th, 22.0% of the total respondents were educated up to 12th, 43.8% of the total respondents were under graduates, 18.8% of the total respondents were post graduates, 15.4% of the total respondents held Professional qualifications. 31.1% of the total respondents were aged between 20 to30 years, 43.3% of the total respondents were aged between 30 to 40 years, 11.9% of the total respondents were aged between 40 to 50, 13.6% of the total respondents were aged abo ve 50years. 37.8% of the total respondents were Home makers, 40.1% of the total respondents were occupied in office and Industries, 22.1% of the total respondents were entrepreneurs. In order to identify the preference of ebike among the respondents, awareness and their willingness to purchase the bike is important. For this purpose, the objective wise analysis and the results are presented below.
Objective 1: Awareness level of respondents 79.3 percent of the respondents are aware of ebike. 62 percent of the respondents prefer ebike for their domestic use. A Chisquare analysis was carried out to find out the association between the demographic cha racteristics of the respondents and their opinion towards purchase of ebike.
Research proposition -H 0 -There is no association between demographic characteristics of the respondent and opinion towards purchase of ebike at 5%. Table 1 clearly reflects that the null hypothesis is rejected and there is an association between all the demographic characteristics of the respondent and opinion towards pur chase of ebike at 5% level.

Objective 2: To determine the factors that influences the respondents to purchase ebike
After the Chsquare analysis, the respondent's ranks on the factors that induced them to buy the ebike were ana lyzed using Friedman TwoWay ANOVA and the results are presented in Table 2. It can be concluded from the above Table 2 that no license for vehicles under 50 cc is the factor which indu ces the respondents to prefer ebike since its mean rank is 3.60. Electric Vehicles, which have power less than 250 W and speed less than 25 kmph are not categorized under motor vehicles and which is one of the inducing factor for the respondent. The next important factor is the comfort while driving (mean rank = 4.96) to opt for it followed by no fuel requirement instead it requires only a charging facility with a mean of 5.30. The factor, style and design is the next important with a mean rank of 5.89 followed by economically viable and easy to maintain (mean rank = 6.00) and better after sales service (Mean rank = 6.12) long term guarantee and warranty for spare parts is the next important factor with the mean rank of 6.51 followed by cost efficiency (mean rank = 7.24). It is also interesting to note that the chisquare (902.670) is significant for 8 degrees of freedom at 5% level of signifi cance, which reveals that there is a significant difference among the respondents in ranking the factors determi ning to opt for a ebike.

Objective 3: To analyze the respondents' level of satisfaction towards ebike
The respondents' level of satisfaction towards ebike was analyzed using appropriate statistical tools and the results are tabulated below. Table 3 that majority of the respon dents (821) are willing to purchase ebike. However, 25.37% of the respondents are not willing to purchase the same.

It is obvious from
It is seen from Table 4 that majority of the respondents (153) are of the opinion that the ebike is environmental friendly followed by 148 of them reasoning easy mainte nance, 125 respondents have replied that brand image as the reason for the satisfaction of the ebike. On the other hand 124 and 121 respondents have opined that it is based on innovative technology and good appearance respecti vely 61 respondents opined health tool as a reason for the satisfaction of the ebike.  Table 5 emphasized that majority of the respondents have expressed their willingness to purchase ebike. And only 279 respondents are not willing to purchase the ebike. Among them, 88 respondents have opined that non avai lability of recharging stations, 70 respondents have replied that less resale value, 52 respondents as low speed, 48 res pondents as not suitable for long distance travel and 21 respondents as less carrying capacity as the reasons for their dissatisfaction on the ebike.

Discussion and conclusions
The respondents are of the opinion that more rechargeable stations, more models with carrying capacity and subsidy from the government make them to go in for ebikes in future. Hence, it is suggested that the manufacturers may design many number of possible models with rechargea ble stations specifically for women. Most importantly, the customer preference is established by way of guarantee and warranty for the spare parts of twowheelers which are su stainable for a longer duration. This will automatically in crease the brand equity for that brand of twowheeler thus enhancing its retention value. Hence, it is recommended that the manufactures should offer longterm guarantee and warranty for the twowheeler spare parts and ensures its availability in the city. Non licensing requirement for fewer than 50 cc vehicles, environment friendly vehicle are ranked first among the other factors to purchase ebike. Ebikes can be a useful part of cardiac rehabilitation programmes, and it is suggested by health professionals. So, this may be the niche market and frugal strategy for the auto manufacturing industry. The battery technology should focus on the com muter expectations of range, recharging and affordability. In India most of the EVs run on Lead Acid batteries, Lion bat teries are the need of the hour to improve the EV's efficiency. Battery leasing choices may also be considered by the manu facturer, for reducing ownership costs. A recent survey also concluded that (Salvi, Nambiar 2013) future technologies for EVs may be of Diagnostic Monitor System (DMS), Vehicle Information Data Download, Portable Electronic Tools, Climate Control Seats and Energy Management Systems be considered. The industry needs to attend the new calls and requirements of mid aged, mid income women as their target group. The Industry must create awareness along with promotional development activities partnering with various industry associations, social media etc. Designing a good after sales service network, promoting academic research among premier engineering institutions and initiating pilot programmes for further marketing focal point for ebike.
Ebikes are gradually more common in China (Dill, Rose 2013) but reasonably low in India. As the growing economy of India has increased the purchasing power and preferences of women, these research findings provide in sight in to the possible market for and use of ebikes in India. Still some of the critical factors also needs to be considered for electric bike segment in India. Compared to traditional vehicles, electric vehicles are still costly. Even customers keep their eyes on the rise of petrol or diesel prices, the majority of ordinary two wheelers are still providing a supposed mileage for them. But these e vehicles owners have to manage with frequent battery breakdowns and replacements, which erode the pleasure and the economic gains. The back off of support of on road policies on electric two wheelers in mid 2012 has added cost burdens which in turn not offering the promised economic benefits to the owners. As found in the previous research done by Chiu, Tzeng (1999) and Cherry, Jones (2009), gender is an important decision determinant for escooters and motorbikes. This view is supported by the present research study and a worthwhile marketing strategy may be adopted to produce lines of ebike geared to each gender. For example, in femaleline of escoo ters, manufacturers could modify it by increasing its top speed, carrying capacity, and comfortable for long, extended travels. Women showed their preference for a scooterstyle bike over a traditional style design most likely because the scooterstyle is light weighted and design is more comfortable. The sam ples collected from Madurai city revealed several probable demographic markets for women and people with physical limitations. The ebike can address concerns about health problems related to inactivity, pollution and other problems. Madurai being one of the largest cities in South India, has to its credit a considerable and relevant mix of various popular ethnic groups of the country such as Marwadis, Sourashtrians, Parsis etc., Most of them have migrated for business purposes and they form a sizeable population of the city. In addition to these, the city also has a good mix of population belonging to various regional, religious and communal groups that are seen across the country. Thus it can be concluded that the outcome of this study is relevant for the marketers of ebikes to correlate to other states of South India and parts of North India too.Government has set up the Governing Council for Electric Vehicles which is operating under the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises. It will develop infras tructure for electric mobility -charging stations. Government will promote Joint Ventures, specifically in EV battery techno logy and plan for a council for further transfer of technology may have representatives from various Ministries -includes Road Transport and Highways, New and Renewable Energy and Power and other related industry representatives.Further research is needed to determine specific policies and safety practices to increase the adoption of ebike.
From the study it is clear that exclusive show room, trendy models with different capacities and colors, and exclusive service stations for women in large numbers may create a new market potential for the automobile industry. The scar city of fossil fuels, hike in price of crude oil, and increasing focus on environmental pollution and greenhouse effect on earth, and the global automobile industry is gradually moving toward electricity as the source of power for auto mobiles in a hybrid form. Increased pressure to be more socially and environmentally responsible is inducing many manufacturers to install charging stations on their premises. Given such a favorable environment, electric vehicles and charging networks, which served the cause of environmental sustainability, appeared to have a bright future. This frugal innovative strategy would facilitate new business opportu nities and making world becoming a low carbon economy.