Consumer Preference In Selecting Mobile Phones

Under the guidance of

Prof Mihirdash

Submitted By

GROUP 7

Marketing A

INTRODUCTION

The Cellular telephone (commonly "mobile phone" or "cell phone" or "hand phone") is long-

range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard

voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services

such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS

for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular

network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched

telephone network (PSTN) (the exception is satellite phones. Cellular telephone is also

defined as a type of short-wave analog or digital telecommunication in which a subscriber has

a wireless connection from a mobile telephone to a relatively nearby transmitter. The

transmitter's span of coverage is called a cell. Generally, cellular telephone service is

available in urban areas and along major highways. As the cellular telephone user moves

from one cell or area of coverage to another, the telephone is effectively passed on to the

local cell transmitter. A cellular telephone is not to be confused with a cordless telephone

(which is simply a phone with a very short wireless connection to a local phone outlet). A

newer service similar to cellular is personal communications services (PCS).

The Global Cellular Mobile Industry:

The global mobile phone industry is based on many different manufacturers and operators.

The industry is based on advanced technology and many of the manufacturers are operating

in different industries, where they use their technological skills, distribution network, market

knowledge and brand name. Four large manufacturers of mobile phones are today dominating

the global mobile phone industry; Nokia, Sony Ericson, Samsung and Motorola. In addition

to these companies there are many manufacturers that operate globally and locally.

Mobile users today want their handsets to be converged devices handling multiple functions,

entertainment being the most important among them. They want their mobile to be fully

loaded with top-end features, but they want all that at affordable costs.

Integrated digital camera, music player and stereo FM radio are the three main features which

would drive users towards upgrading their handsets. These features are available in mid range

and high-end handsets so far, and the common user now demands these features in ordinary

handsets which can be affordable. On the other hand, MMS has failed to catch the fancy of

the masses due to its high costs of transmission over the networks and relatively cheaper

alternate modes of downloading videos available through Internet. The important features

considered in the study are

Brand Image:

It is very fast era, in these days information about corporation and news from all over the

world can spread within few minutes which effects reputation of corporate image and

ultimately corporate brand. Corporate brand seldom convey the full and satisfactory message

to consumer. There must be a symbol associated with brand name so audience has

memorable associations. Brand manager needs to take a different view of promotional

activities of a particular brand, as consumer reacts differently, when he has knowledge of a

specific brand. In corporate branding, corporate brand must be strong, have meaning,

distinctive associations and good reputation that a customer easily recognize. “Corporate

identity should consistently relate to what is central to the organization and this can support

corporate branding” .Market share is directly affected by corporate image and building up for

loyal customers. Communication would be easy with all stake holders with strong corporate

image of an organization. Corporate image helps a firm to build up good reputation in the

market and it is the trust of the customers with output of expected attributes

Price:

In marketing research all P’s of marketing mix are important but to make it clear and valid,

involve only one P or maximum two Ps from marketing mix (Yen, 1994). So this research

includes one P which is pricing and is more important in service sector, because consumer

have to pay every time when he/she consumes a particle service. So this is the most critical

factor in obtaining, more loyal customers. Organizations are believe to spend thousand

hundred dollars in product development but it is difficult to spend 1% on the research to find

out perceptions of customers on various price levels. “There are several factors which will

probably influence your organization’s pricing policy, factors such as, the competitor’s price,

the position of the product in the life cycle, company positioning policy, perceived level of

differentiation and perceived value and so on” Pricing strategy must be carrying out to

maintain balance between organization’s profit and marketer’s desire to pay the right for the

right product/ service.

Pricing Strategies:

There are three basic competitive strategies for pricing which are described by porter. These

are

1- Cost leader ship

2- Differentiation

3- Focus

Service quality:

Service quality is the overall judgment of the customer about the excellence and superiority

of the service. As there are some basic attributes associated with service quality like; services

are intangible, services are heterogeneous (means that their price often varies with respect to

the provider and customer), services cannot be stored means that services are consumed with

they are produced; it means services cannot be separated from their production. The degree of

perceived risk is highest when customer cannot evaluate the service quality before

purchasing. Service satisfaction is among the most important factors which affect the

customer loyalty and buying behavior. It has a direct relationship between price of the

product or service being offered by a firm. It means there is a tradeoff between the price and

service quality and through this satisfaction there can be increase or decrease in sensitivity

towards other factors involved in long term relationship between customer and the operator

Improving service quality in the eyes of the customer creates “true customer” through high

customer satisfaction.

Customer loyalty:

A deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product/service consistently

in the future, thereby causing repetitive same-brand or same brand-set purchasing, despite

situational influences and marketing efforts having potential to cause switching behavior.

Corporate name recognition, the product image, corporate reputation and corporate

loyalty/commitment helps the consumer to value a product of a particular company. In GSM

mobile phone sector the main condition for protecting subscriber base is to win customer

loyalty. Customer loyalty is key necessity for maintaining brand’s life over a long period.

And to achieve this aim companies must measure customer satisfaction and trust time to time

Even though it is not possible to satisfy the customers by 100% but firms still pursue this.

When barriers are high for the customers firms still want to satisfy the customers and make

them loyal even if they are not satisfied

Other features like Games, Calculator, Reminders/Scheduler/Organizer, Polyphonic ringtones

etc have become hygiene features and are a must for any handset. None of these features is a

differentiator anymore.

Apart from Integrated Camera, Music player and Stereo FM radio, a Speaker phone is

another feature that emerges as the driver for replacing the current handset. This feature can

be a most cost effective differentiating feature for the low end phones.

Most handset vendors have been bringing out new models at fairly regular intervals. The

maximum activity takes place at the high end, where the launch of a newer model makes the

older model cheaper, shifting it to the mid segment. However, the low-end handset users,

who make up a huge number, don’t get access to such features as the prices of such phones

do not fall below a certain level. The dissatisfaction among the existing users stems from this,

as they are unhappy at not being able to avail these high-end features.

The handset vendors need to address these expectations of the mass market to be able to

entice them towards their products.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

This project gives us great exposure on behaviour of consumers on purchasing a mobile and

Brand switching

OBJECTIVES:

The aim of study is to objectively understand the behavior of mobile phone users among

students. The secondary objective is to identify the following:

Satisfaction level of mobile users

Most important drivers of buying

Triggers that lead to a need for replacing existing phone

RESEARCH DESIGN:

Research design is important primarily because of the increased complexity in the market as

well as marketing approaches available to the researchers. In fact, it is the key to the

evolution of successful marketing strategies and programmers. It is an important tool to study

buyer’s behavior, consumption pattern, brand loyalty, and focus market changes.

METHODOLOGY OF COLLECTION OF DATA:

This report was prepared after collecting data mainly primary data based on survey

questionnaires.

Questionnaire: The inputs from the review of literature helped us in the questionnaire

formation. Important attributes were identified and incorporated. Also, the research

objectives helped us identify the nature of questions we needed to ask.

Sampling Data:

1. Target Population: Students

2. Sampling frame: Alliance campus

3. Sampling Technique: Convenience sampling

4. Sample Size: 78

Measurement and Scaling:

* Likert Scale: The features are being rated according to different attributes on a scale of 1-5.

THREATS:

1) It is subjective in nature.

2) The features expectation varies with the sample.

LIMITATION OF STUDY:

1) Negative consequences while satisfying the needs and wants of customer

2) Lack of potential consumers

DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The data was analyzed using factor analysis

From the rotated component matrix it can be concluded that

Component 1 consists of Battery life, color, Wi-Fi and camera quality

Component 2 consists of size and keypad

Component 3 consists of Brand, software and warranty

Component 4 consists of price.

Component 1 is very important from the table (total variance explained) as

component 1 cumulative% is 20.845 % and the Eigen values is also highest for

component 1

CONCLUSION:

For customers component 1 is important which consists of Battery life, color, Wi-Fi

and camera quality. Hence the mobile manufacturers should concentrate on these

features when designing a mobile.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

QUESTIONNAIRE

1. Brand is very important in purchasing mobile?

1

2

3

4

5

2. Do you consider battery life as the most important factor in a mobile?

1

2

3

4

5

3. Do you think that size of the mobile is important in initiating a purchase

1

2

3

4

5

4. Do you make a purchase of mobile by considering operating system as an important

factor?

1

2

3

4

5

5. Do you give importance to colour of the mobile to initiate purchase?

1

2

3

4

5

6. You consider the keypad feature of the mobile during mobile purchase

1

2

3

4

5

7. Do you think that wifi is essential in a mobile?

1

2

3

4

5

8. Do you think warranty is considered as important aspect of mobile purchase?

1

2

3

4

5

9. You consider price as an important factor before making a purchase.

1

2

3

4

5

10. Do you consider camera features as an important aspect for purchasing a mobile?

1

2

3

4

5

Where 1 – strongly disagree

5 – Strongly agree

Glossary:

Consumer Preference in Selecting Mobile Phones - Essays - Divya617

A STUDY OF CONSUMER’S PREFERENCE AND SATISFACTION TOWARDS VARIOUS CELL PHONE SERVICE

PROVIDES,

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