Study of factors Involved in Smartphone Brand Preference by Young Consumers in Delhi

IRJMSH Vol 6 Issue 11 [Year 2015] ISSN 2277 – 9809 (0nline) 2348–9359 (Print)

International Research Journal of Management Sociology & Humanity ( IRJMSH ) Page 60 www.irjmsh.com

Study of factors Involved in Smartphone Brand Preference by Young

Consumers in Delhi

Faheem Ahmed*

Ph.D Research Scholar, faculty of management, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University),

Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi-110062 email: [email protected]

Dr. Reshma Nasreen Associate professor, faculty of management, Jamia Hamdard (Hamdard University),

Hamdard Nagar, New Delhi-110062

*corresponding author

Abstract

In today’s world the Smartphone users are increasing day by day as these Smart phones provide

many facilities at one point. Smart phones can be considered to be the substitutes of laptops with

an additional feature of calling. The study is carried out by the researchers to find out the

Smartphone preferences by the consumers in the Delhi and NCR. The purpose of the study is

also to better understand the current dynamics of the market for Smartphone and the usage

behavior of consumers in Delhi and NCR. This study also looked into the familiarity of users

towards Smart phones, choices of Smartphone brands and most importantly in determining the

influencing factors that influence the purchase decisions of consumers. Additionally, the

consumer’s preferences on Smartphone specifications such as design, multimedia, operating

platform, and price were investigated. The study also tries to find out the consumers perception

for their Smartphone brands. The research consists of 100 respondents and among which are

students and working people. The analysis is carried out through SPSS software and results were

determined through various tests such as correlation, cross tabulation etc. The study will help the

Smartphone companies to develop their marketing strategies as per the consumer preferences.

Keywords: Consumer Behavior, Consumer Preference, Influencing Factors, Smartphone

Strategies

Introduction

In the last few years, a mobile phone changed its nature and utilities. From being a tool to

conduct a voice conversation the mobile became a device able to replace many other devices

such as digital camera, video recorder, personal navigation device, portable gaming console, and

even laptop. With over 5 billion people owning a cell phone, 0.7 phones every person, the

phones business is a huge one.Several studies have investigated the demographic features of

Smartphone users. Males (53%) are more likely to have a Smartphone than females (47%)



(Entner, 2010). Balakrishnan and Yeow, has observed that the Smartphone possession in US is

skewed towards the younger generation people in age group of 25 to 44, (Balakrishnan and

Yeow, 2007). Another study done by Scarborough Research concluded that the young

Americans within the age bracket of 18 to 24 years are more familiar and comfortable with the

text-messaging feature on their cell phones, (Texting, 2008).

Worldwide sales of Smart phones surpassed those of feature phones in early 2013. As of July 18,

2013, 90 percent of global handset sales are attributed to the purchase of Android and iPhone

Smartphones. India is set to become the third- largest market for Smartphones in four years,

according to researcher IDC, with phone makers launching more affordable 3G handsets and

looking to tap buyers in small cities and towns.

Smartphone shipments to India are forecast to rise to 155.6 million units in 2017 from 27.8

million now, accounting for a 10.3% share of the global market behind China’s pro jected 30.2%

share and the US’s 12.1%, according to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone

Tracker report, released on 4 March. India currently ranks sixth with a global market share of

3%; China has a 32.8% share and the US 15%.

India’s Smartphone market is expected to grow sharply because of a variety of factors, including

greater accessibility of low-cost devices and importance on less populous regions. In addition,

expansion of 3G network coverage and the rollout of 4G networks are expected to boost

Smartphone sales in the country.

According to the IDC report, India’s year-on-year Smartphone shipment growth is expected to be

the highest among the top countries—China, US, UK, Japan and Brazil—in the list as a majority

of the country’s mobile phone users presently use regular feature phones.

Literature Review

The Engel, Kollat and Blackwell model shows consumers’ buying-decision process, which is

based on the field of consumer psychology theories such as those developed by (Howard , 1963).

Innovativeness, defined by Bayus (2008) as ―the individual inherent innovative personality,

predisposition, and cognitive style toward innovations that can be applied to consumption

domain across product classes‖, is the essential factor upon which all segment characteristics

come from. It refers to the predisposition to adopt an innovation earlier than most other people

do. Modernisers play a major role in the diffusion and ultimate adoption of a new product.

Therefore, it is not remarkable the effort that academic research put on to identify variables

useful at spotting this category. Reviewing the literature that covers the profiling of early

adopters, it is possible to identify three major academic streams. The first stream was successful

at relating consumer personal characteristic to new product adoption behaviour, suggesting that

Innovators are likely to be younger, have higher levels of incomes and education, have greater

social mobility, favourable assertiveness toward risk, and have social contribution a nd higher

opinion leadership (Dickerson and Gentry 1983; Gatignon and Robertson 1991; Rogers 2003;

Kavak and Demirsoy, 2007).

Due to the speedy growth, the Smartphones has dominated other hand held mobile devices.

Currently, the Smartphone quenches the thirst for those people who need to be connected



constantly (Lane & Manner, 2011). The Smartphone does not only act as a medium for

telecommunication, but it also helps in connecting to the world on various other ways. These

gadgets facilitate consumers to make use of social media sites and email right away. They also

let consumers surf the web, play games, and listen to music (Lane & Manner, 2011). The

Smartphone has numerous other functions like online banking, watching live television and

online movies, and reading e-books.

While marketers have been diligent in studying the demographic characteristics of Smartphone

users, they have ignored the impact of preferences on Smartphone ownership and use. The

purpose of this study is to examine which preferences by young who are using a Smartphone and

most likely to have a Smartphone and which functions are most important to them.

Devaraj et al, (2008) found that agreeableness has a positive association with beliefs about the

perceived usefulness of technology. While investigating, how young people’s exploits

technology Ehrenberg (2008) found that more displeasing individuals spend more time on calls

and that displeasing individuals with comparatively lower self-esteem spent more time using

instant messaging and shows stronger instant messaging addictive tendencies. Phillips et al.

(2008) revealed that people with low agreeableness were more likely to use their phones to play

games. Devaraj et al. (2008) found that assiduousness governs the relationship between

perceived usefulness of technology and intention to use technology, such that the relationship

was stronger for individuals with higher assiduousness.

Perceived usefulness of technology has not only facilitated Smartphone business, but also other

businesses such as Internet, e-commerce, and mobile advertising as well. Although lot of

information has been collected about the demographic characteristic of Smartphone owners, but

still there is lack of information about the impact of personality types on Smartphone ownership

and use. So, from the perspective of Smartphones makers, it would be invaluable to know if

different types of personality traits play a role in Smartphone ownership. If the marketer can

evaluate which personality type is positively associated with the ownership of Smartphone, then

marketer can focus these factors in an effort to get more of those personality types to purchase a

Smartphone. In addition, the marketer may also try to make their Smartphones attractive to the

other personality types. If the marketer can identify which personality traits are closely

associated with Smartphone functions, then the marketer can focus on those functions in the

selling process. For example, those who feel enjoyment with their personal contacts might prefer

making phone calls, and therefore the marketer may need to give the emphasis on ease of making

a phone call using the Smartphone. On the other hand, the neurotic might prefer email because it

does not involve too much personal contact. Attribute numerosity tends to benefit certain types

of options more than others and consequently has systematic effects on choice (Aner Sela , jonah

berger, 2012)



Methodology

Primary data were collected by means of survey through structured questionnaire. The data were

collected from Delhi. The targeted audience was student and working executives. All the

respondents were between the age group of 15-40 years at the time of survey. Secondary data

were collected from articles, journals and internet as well as various articles, papers and thesis

related to topic.

Data collection

Data was collected from students and young executives through structured questionnaire. In all,

100 questionnaires were distributed, out of which 70 questionnaire were returned back and only

60 respondent’s questionnaire were chosen for data analysis.

Explorative research design is being carried out using snowball sampling method

Sample Size

60 respondents were randomly selected and research was undertaken in Delhi

Results

i) Correlation between age group and the brand.

Table 1:

Age Brand

Pearson coefficient 0.012

Sig. 0.928

Hypothesis- H01: There is no relation between age group and the brand of Smartphone, Ha:

There is a relationship between age group and the brand of Smartphone

Interpretation: As shown in the above table 1, the significance level between age group and

brand comes out to be 0.928 at 95% confidence interval level which is more than 0.05. It reveals

a non-significant relationship between age and brand of Smartphone at p < .05. Hence the null

hypothesis is accepted resulting into the rejection of alternate hypothesis. This shows that there is

a relationship between age group and brand of Smartphone as shown in above table. The

relationship is .012 which is a positive relationship.

ii) Correlation between Income and price factor

Hypothesis- H02: There is no relationship between income of consumer and price of the smart

phone, Ha: There is relationship between income of consumer and price of the smart phone.

Table 2

Income Price


Sig. 0.798

Interpretation:As shown in the above table 2, the significance level between income and price

factor comes out to be 0.928 at 95% confidence interval level which is more than 0.05. It reveals



a non-significant relationship between income and price factor of Smartphone at p < .05. Hence

the null hypothesis is accepted resulting into the rejection of alternate hypothesis.

iii) Correlation between Occupation and mode of payment

Hypothesis- H03: There is no relationship between occupation of consumer and the mode of

payment by the consumer, Ha: There is relationship between occupation of consumer and the

mode of payment by the consumer.

Table 3

Occupation Mode of Payment


Sig. 0.401

Interpretation:As shown in the above table 3, the significance level between occupation of

consumer and price factor comes out to be 0.401 at 95% confidence interval level which is more

than 0.05. It reveals a non-significant relationship between occupation and mode of payment of

Smartphone at p < .05. Hence the null hypothesis is accepted resulting into the rejection of

alternate hypothesis.

i) Smartphone brand used by users as well as is price an important issue?



Figure 1: Bar diagram showing % of brand users and importance of price

Interpretation: As shown in the above figure, the maximum number of Smartphone is used by

consumer is Samsung and their usage percentage is 48.3%, whereas around 15.0% of

respondents are using Apple. On the other hand 13% of consumers are using Nokia and Sony is

used by 10% of consumers.

Interpretation: As shown in the above figure 1, the majority of the respondents, 43.7%, say that

price is an important issue. 38.3% of the respondents say that price is somewhat important. 13%

respondents admit that price is less important as far as Smartphone are concerned.

ii) Place of purchase

Table

Interpretation: As shown in the table, the most favored place of purchasing is company

outlet.48.3% of the respondents admit this. 36.7% respondents preferred to buy Smartphone from

the multi-brand store. 15% of the respondents are willing to buy the product online as well.

Online purchase is a growing trend for Smartphone.

iii) Preferences on the basis of feature

Table 4

Preference Design Multimedia Cell

feature

Battery

life

Additional

feature

Very important 48.3 56.7 61.7 61.7 48.3

Somewhat important 41.7 26.7 28.3 25.0 18.3

Neither important not

unimportant

5.00 10.0 6.7 3.3 13.3

Less important 5.00 6.6 3.3 6.7 11.7

Not at all important 00.00 00.00 00.00 3.3 8.3

Total 100 100 100 100 100.0

Interpretation:As shown in the above table 4, 61.7% of the users preferred cell feature and

battery life as very important aspect of the Smartphone. 48.3% users admit that design is very

important for Smartphone whereas 56.7% consumers admitted that multimedia is very important

Preference Percent

Company outlet 48.3

Multibrand 36.7

Online 15.0

Any other 00.00

Total 100



factor for Smartphone. However, 41.7% consumers revealed that design is somewhat important

and 25% consumers revealed that battery is somewhat important in case of Smartphones. 8.3%

of the consumers also mentioned that additional features are not at all important in Smartphone.

iv) Smartphone as a symbol of Social status

Table 5

Preferences Percentage

Very important 23.3

Somewhat important 43.3

Neither important not

unimportant

18.4

Less important 10.0

Not at all important 5.0

Total 100

Interpretation:As shown in the above table 5,43% consumers feel that Smartphone is somewhat

a symbol of social status. Only 23.3% respondents felt that it is very important symbol of social

status. 18.4% respondents felt that it’s neither important nor unimportant hence neutral. Only

10% respondents say that it is less important as a social status to have a Smartphone.

v) Influence of external factors

Table 6:

Preferences Family Friends Colleagues Professional

advice Advertising Brand

ambassador Very important

40.0 36.7 40.0 45.0 23.3 11.7

Somewhat important

38.3 40.0 33.3 33.3 26.7 15.0

Neither important nor unimportant

13.3 10.0 15.0 8.3 15.0 16.7

Less important 1.7 10.0 10.0 10.0 26.7 21.7 Not at all important

6.7 3.3 1.7 3.3 8.3 35.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Interpretation:As shown in the table 6, 40% respondents feel that family advice is very

important for the purchase decision of Smartphone. Also, 38.3% respondents showed that family

advice is somewhat important. 40% of the consumers mentioned that friend’s advice is



somewhat important. 45% of the respondents would like to follow the professional advice while

purchasing the Smartphone. 35% consumers say that brand ambassador is not at all important

while purchasing Smartphone.

vi) Ranking of Features of Smartphones

Table 7:

Rank

Touch-

screen

keyp

ad

User

friendl

y

screen

size

Multisi

m

Extende

d

warranty

price quality Brand Battery

life

design

Rank 1 40.0 5.0 5.0 5.0 00.0 1.7 5 6.7 25.0 00.0 3.3

Rank 2 8.3 3.3 15.0 5.0 6.7 5.0 11 8.3 10.0 8.3 6.7

Rank 3 6.7 00.

00

11.7 16.7 1.7 5.0 11 11.7 15.0 6.7 8.3

Rank 4 6.7 6.7 6.7 3.3 3.3 1.7 8 16.7 11.7 23.3 11.7

Rank 5 8.3 6.7 11.7 3.3 1.7 8.3 10 13.3 3.3 20.0 5.0

Rank 6 3.3 8.3 3.3 16.7 1.7 6.7 6 8.3 11.7 15.0 21.7

Rank 7 5.0 3.3 20.0 3.3 3.3 16.7 4 15.0 3.3 16.7 8.3

Rank 8 8.3 5.0 11.7 13.3 3.3 18.3 3 15.0 3.3 3.3 20.0

Rank 9 10.0 8.3 8.3 13.3 5.0 13.3 1 5.0 13.3 3.3 3.3

Rank 10 3.3 10.

0

6.7 5.0 28.3 13.3 00.0 00.0 00.00 3.3 1.7

Rank 11 00.00 3.3 00.0 15.0 45.0 10.0 1.7 00.0 3.3 00.0 10.0

Total 100.0 100

.0

100.0 100. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Interpretation: As shown in the table 4.11, 40% of the Smartphone users gave the touch screen

as rank 1. 15% of the users gave rank 2 to the user friendliness of the Smartphone. 16.7 % user

ranked 3 to the screen size. Keypad was the most unfavorable feature for the Smartphone. 23%

users put battery life of the Smartphone on rank 4. 16.7% user put extended warranty on rank 7.

Multisim was given rank 11 by 45% Smartphone users. 21.7% users put design on rank 6.

Cross tabulation

1. Age group and mobile use

Table 8

Age

group

Sony

Samsung

Apple

Nokia

Blackberry

15-20 0.0% 0.0% 11.1% 0.0% 0.0%

20-25 16.7 37.9 22.2% 25.0% 42.9%

26-30 6.7% 34.5% 22.2% 37.5% 42.9%

31-35 16.7% 20.7% 33.3% 37.5% 0.0%

36-40 0.0% 6.9% 11.1% 0.0% 14.3%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%



Interpretation: Table 8, reveals 11.1% users are using Apple mobile within age group 15-20

years. Samsung is 2nd most preferred mobile i.e. 37.9%, under the age group 20-25 years whereas

Blackberry mobile was used by 42.9% users in the same age group. Also within the age group of

26-30 years, 42.9% users preferred blackberry mobile. 37.5% users preferred Nokia.

2) Age group and importance of price

Table 9:

Age group Very

important

Somewhat

important

Neither

important

nor

unimportant

Less

important

Not at all

important

15-20 0.0% 4.3% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

21-25 34.6% 30.4% 0.0% 37.5% 33.3%

26-30 46.2% 39.1% 0.0% 0.0% 33.3%

31-35 15.4% 13.0% 0.0% 62.5% 33.3%

36-40 3.8% 13.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%

Interpretation: Table 9, revealed that in the age group of 26-30 years, 46.2% users said that price

is an important issue, 62.5% user in age group 31-35 said that price is less important issue.

46.2% respondents said that price is very important issue in the age group of 26-30 years.

Discussion

Exploration of Smartphone consumer behaviour by finding the determents of Smartphone

purchase. The result shows that product performance, branding, product design along with the

price have the influence on people’s buying decision process, which booms to the works that

whether the product can satisfy people’s needs, branding, appearance, and price can affect

consumer behaviour. According to consumer behaviour models, whether the product is able to

satisfy people needs is one of the arguments that influence people’s buying decision. In the case

of Smartphone, the product performance is considered as the influence that defines whether

one’s major needs could be satisfied; literature suggests that brand name has the effect on certain

level to the understanding of product quality, therefore in this study; brand image of a

Smartphone vendor affects people’s consumption decision. However, the influence is rather

small when comparing with other factors Appearance/Design influences consumers’ behaviour

easily. Here, appearance is the determent that influences buying choice the most according to

discriminant analysis, and is defined as the material se lection of a Smartphone; price has been

pointed out that it can be treated as the signal that represents product quality. In the case of

Smartphone, the result suggests that the influence of representing product quality is relatively

weak, and that people consider that price serves as aconversepointer in terms of buying decision.

Price is namely the price of a Smartphone and the price of additional purchase in the study.



The main contributions of the thesis is to deconstruct existing theories of consumer behaviour,

proposing an alternative clarification of consumer behaviour in Smartphone purchase in which

major factors that affect Smartphone buying were found through analysis. Findings are able to

aid vendors in the marketing of Smartphone.

The factors in this study were defined strictly based on the literature. Hence, it is difficult to

cover the whole scope from a certain dimension. For example, in this study branding is defined

as the experience and the frequency of advertising that consumers perceived. Yet, the importance

of whether one can shape his/her ideal self- image through brand image was ignored. This kind of

questions could change the result enormously. On the other hand, the number of samples

required to directly represent the distribution may be prohibitively large. As unintentional

sampling was applied in this study and the sample size is small, the generalities about the total

population cannot be made scientifically. In fact, most of the respondents of the sample are

belong to the younggeneration. Since external influences, such as culture, social, and personal

factors, affect consumer behaviour, the result is not unbiased. Also, this study is based on a one-

time survey. A longitudinal study to show the measurement of motivation for better reliability is

recommended.

Conclusion

In our survey, we come to know that there is no relationship between age group and the brand of

Smartphone. Also there was no relationship between income of the consumer and price of

Smartphone. It is evident by the data observed. Moreover companies are targeting younger

consumer as purchasing power has increased and user are well aware of the benefit of

Smartphone. Users are also exploring all mode of payments, hence having greater flexibility in

terms of payment, however maximum number of consumer still prefer to purchase from the

company outlet.

On the other hand, multi-brand purchase is on second position. In our finding we also came to

know that maximum numbers of users are of Samsung Smartphone, Apple is on second position,

and Nokia is on 3rd position in terms of Smartphone brand used by respondents. Blackberry and

Sony comes on 4th and 5th position respectively.

Price is very important issue while doing a purchase of Smartphone. Status symbol is also

attached with a Smartphone and hence more exclusive the mobile more status symbol it has.

The Smartphone purchase decision is also influenced by the external factors. Professional advice

is the most important followed by family and friends.

Among various feature of Smartphone, touch screen, user friendly, battery life are most favored

features whereas multi-sim and keypad were least favored feature in Smartphone.

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Documents

Study of factors Involved in Smartphone Brand Preference by Young Consumers in Delhi