Submitted By: Group No 4
Group Members: Sharel
Loyd
Mahesh
Yashaswini
Jenifer
Sadanand
Submitted To: Ms. Sumitha Achar
Senior lecturer
AIBA
ASSIGNMENT-3
Contents
•Introduction
• Research Methodology
•Bibliography
Chapter 1
Introduction
Introduction
Although mobile phones have become a fundamental part of personal
Communication across the globe during the past ten years, consumer Research
has devoted little specific attention to motives and choice underlying the mobile
phone buying decision process. There are numerous complex factors that need
to be taken into account when exploring Mobile phone buying decision process,
including both macro and Microeconomic conditions that affect the evolution of
mobile phone market in general and individual consumer’s motives and decision
making in particular. Moreover, it is important to distinguish between buying
behavior referring to the choice between different mobile phone models and
brands and change aspects referring to reasons that affect change. As the
mobile phone market is a typical technology push driven market where products
are created ahead of the recognition of existing recognized consumer needs
mobile phone development is based on consumers’ possible future needs and
thus companies that best hunch the technologies and services of future will be
the leaders in the discipline.
A major revolution in communication is sweeping across business,
industry, and influencing the daily lives of everyone. As an offshoot, the
developments are never ending in the field of information and communication
technology (ICT). These lead to new business models and new ways of
marketing products and services. The changes are highlighted through
telemetric, radio frequency identification devices, smart products and virtual
mantis. All these point to the fact that the boundaries between firm and customer
are getting eroded.
GSM
GSM is mostly a European system and is largely unused in US. GSM is
interesting in that it uses a modified and far more efficient version of Time
Division Multiple Access (TDMA). GSM keeps the idea of time slots and
frequency channels, but corrects several major shortcomings. Since the GSM
time slots are smaller than TDMA, they hold less data but allow for data rates
starting at 360 bits per second. Thus, a call can use as many time slots as
necessary upto a limit of 13 Kilobits per second. When a call is inactive or may
be compressed more, fewer time slots are used. To facilitate filling in gaps left by
unused time slots, call do “frequency hopping” in GSM which means that calls
will jump between channels and time slots to maximum the systems usage. A
control channel is used to communicate the frequency hopping and other
information between the tower and the phone. To compare it with the other
systems, it should be noted that GSM requires 1 watt of out put power from the
phone.
The Indian telecom sector has witnessed a massive increase in its
progress rate in last few years, during which time period it registered above 90%
growth rate. However, broadband subscribers have not resulted the expected
increase. Wireless is recorded to be nearly 54.6% of the total telephone
subscription base. The technology used in respect of it is mainly are global
system for mobile communications (GSM) and code division multiple access
(CDMA).
The tremendous growth and development of cell phone technologies have
prompted the leading electronic giants hop to the cell phone bandwagon. Even
though the global cell phone market is still dominated by Nokia, the LG Cell
Phones are gradually making their presence felt and demanding a share of the
pie. As a matter of fact, LG electronics is among the top players in the consumer
electronics market but a relatively late entrant in the GSM cellular sector. Until a
few years back the company used to manufacture cell phones only for the CDMA
operators. But the new technologies like EDGE and 3G being developed for the
thriving GSM market, it could not resist the temptation of joining the big league.
Most of the LG Cell Phones come in standard clamshell form and few are
available in slider as well.
While the handsets manufactured by the company are of excellent quality,
one may find it daunting to select the best suitable handset for him among the
available lot. One can go through the Internet comparisons and reviews to select
which handset to buy. In recent times, the company has launched some powerful
and highly sophisticated GSM handsets in the market and they have become a
craze among the cell phone users in the USA. Some of the most sought after LG
Cell Phones are LG KG800, LG Shine and its flagship product-PRADA. The last
one is the brand’s touch screen enabled handset.
Among the LG Cell Phones that give the users best value for money,
the TU500 deserves a mention. It scores with its unique video calling feature.
However, it does not skip in the basic functionalities department either. It is a
robustly built phone with good speaker phone and awesome sound quality. Both
men and women can find it appealing. However, no memory card is provided
with the phone and its internal storage of 13 MB is measly by recent standards.
The battery life is also quite good.
Another LG cell phone worth buying is the VX8700. It is being offered by
Verizon and hence works in CDMA standard. The phone takes decent quality
snaps due to its 2 MP camera. The exterior is built of steel and the feel is sturdy.
This model has a loud speakerphone and voice clarity should not be a problem.
However, the battery life is just about average and similarly priced phones come
with longer battery life.
With the presence of many players in the field of (GSM), the organization
(LG) wants to know the growth prospect of the market so that they can be able to
make their long term strategic plan, based on the consumer buying behaviour.
The increased attention given to consumer behavior and research is due to the
following facts:
• The consumer has more power
• The consumer has more access to information than before
• Marketers can offer more service and products than ever before.
Digital communication enables a two-way interactive exchange in which
consumer can instantly react to the changes in the market. The main players in
GSM mobile sector are Nokia, Samsung, LG, Motorola and siemens.
t is widely accepted that the traditional problem solving approach involving
rational decision making to the study of consumer choice may not be suitable for
all situations, or is at least incomplete to understand choice behavior.
Consumer choice behavior has some important prevailing conditions that
must be taken into account while studying choice. In the light of the classical
problem solving buying behavior, consumers engage in information search
before making the actual choice. Consumer decision making process is usually
guided by already formed preferences for a particular alternative. This means
that consumers are likely to make the choice between alternatives based on
limited information search activity and without detailed evaluation of the other
alternatives.
Consumers with prior experience about a product can predict their
choices relatively well, although respondents tended to overestimate the
importance of features, call rates and free calls and underestimate the
importance of a monthly access fee, mobile-to-mobile phones rates and the
connection fee.
Mobile phone choice and use has also been found to be related to prior
consumption styles. According to a fresh survey of Finnish young people aged
16-20, it was found that mobile phone choice and especially usage is consistent
with respondents’ general consumption styles.
The addictive use is common among females and is related to trendy and
impulsive consumption styles. Instead, males found are to have more
technology enthusiasm and trend-consciousness. Consumers value in smart
phones features that enhance their personal time planning
The necessity for studying consumer behaviour arises because of the fact
that business organization have to operate, survive and progress in a highly
dynamic economy where change is the rule, not the exception. The change may
be sudden on extensive, or may be slow and almost imperceptible. Some of the
important forces of change may be the changes in technology, changes in
population and income distribution, changes in tastes of consumers and their
buying behaviors, changes in competition, changes in government policies etc.
These changes often give rise to innumerable problems and throw countless
challenges to the marketers. Most of these changes are thrust on managers,
who are forced to adjust their activities in order to take full advantage of
favorable development or to minimize the adverse effects of unfavorable ones.
Successful organization tries to visualize the problems before they turn in to
emergencies. With the presence of many players in the field of GSM the
organizations want to know the future prospects of the market so that they can
be able to make their long term strategic plans based on the consumer buying
behaviour.
Consuming buying behaviour refers to the buying behaviour of the
consumer. A firm needs to study the consumer buying behaviour because
buyer’s reactions to a firm’s marketing strategy have a great impact on the
company’s success. The marketing concepts stress that a firm should create a
marketing strategy that satisfies the consumers, therefore, need to ask what,
where, when and how consumers buy. Marketers can better predict how
consumers will respond to marketing strategies.
Consumer behaviour is interdisciplinary in nature since it is based on
concepts and theories about people that have been developed by scientists.
Such diverse disciplines as psychology, sociology, social psychology, culture
anthropology and economics.
Consumer behaviour has become an integral part of strategic market
plans. The belief that ethics and social responsibility should also be integral
company of every marketing decision is embodied in a revised marketing
concept societal marketing concept – that calls on marketers to fulfill the needs
of the target markets in ways that improve society as a whole.
The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy the target customer’s needs
and wants. The field of consumer behavior studies how individuals, groups,
organizations select, buy, use and desires. Understanding consumer behavior
and knowing customers is never simple. Customers may say one thing but do
another. They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations. They may
respond influences that change their minds at the last minute. Studying
customer provides clues for developing new products, product features, prices,
charges messages and other marketing-mix element.
Brand awareness:
Brand awareness is an important way of promoting commodity-related
products. This is because for these products, there are very few factors that
differentiate one product from its competitors. Therefore, the product that
maintains the highest brand awareness compared to its competitors will usually
get the most sales.
Brand awareness can be measured by showing a consumer the brand
and asking whether or not they knew of it beforehand. However, in common
market research practice a variety of recognition and recall measures of brand
awareness are employed all of which test the brand name's association to a
product category cue, this came about because most market research in the
20th Century was conducted by post or telephone, actually showing the brand to
consumers usually required more expensive face-to-face interviews (until web-
based interviews became possible). This has led many textbooks to
conceptualise brand awareness simply as its measures, that is, knowledge that
the brand is a member of a particular product category, e.g. soft-drinks
5 Stages of Consumer Buying Behavior
1. Need Awareness: The beginning point of most purchasing is your potential
buyer recognition of a need in their life. This need can be established by
encountering a problem or prompted by a company's marketing.
Break the resistance of no need by aligning your marketing with the current
needs and wants of your market. Use market research in the form of surveys,
focus groups, and informal interviews to determine your potential buyer's hot
buttons or needs.
2. Information Search: With the rise of the Internet, it has never been easier for
buyers to research their purchase. Make sure your small business is in the game
by providing educational material on your website.
Break the resistance of lack of education by adding an educational
seminar to your marketing mix. During my time at NordicTrack, one location had
the lowest conversion in North America. By offering a free educational fitness
seminar, we were able to accelerate the purchase decision and improve
conversion rates. Seminars with the power to shape buyers behavior are void of
product and service promotion. You must offer a true educational experience to
the consumer to succeed.
3. Check Options: After an information search, the customer will evaluate all the
available options. Options include wanted features, pricing, and company
credibility.
Break the resistance of no trust by having others sing the praises of your
business. Trust and credibility are in low supply for many buyers. Instead of
trumpeting your greatness to your buyers who have their guard up, try a third
party validation. Have others ( awards, media, customer testimonies, ) sing your
praises to establish more trust and credibility.
4. Purchase Decision: This is the moment when the customer wants to buy.
Deals are easily lost when you keep selling to the customer. There's an old
adage in sales, when the customer says, "I'll take it," keep your mouth closed,
and close the deal.
Break the resistance of a buyer's final hesitation by making a
recommendation. In a sea of choices, consumers want to buy the best product
for themselves and make the right choice. You're the expert. Help your buyer by
telling them what and why you recommend a certain product or service.
5. Post Buying Behavior: An overlooked piece of consumer buying behavior is
what occurs after the purchase. The buyer will look for reinforcement from
media, friends, and other sources confirming they made the right decision.
Cognitive dissonance or "buyer's remorse" happens when the buyer begins to
feel the purchase wasn't right for them.
Overcome the purchaser's regret by offering warranties, after purchase
follow-up calls, and extended trial periods. Too many companies forget the
customer after the sale. Establish a habit of calling all customers after they have
purchased and used your product or service.
Success for small business requires developing a full understanding of
what occurs in the minds of your customers during and after the purchasing.
Apply your knowledge of customer buying behavior to outsmart your competition
and win more business
It is seen that most of the companies in mobile phone telecommunication
promote more of their corporate name than the product/service they offer to the
customers. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of corporate branding
in mobile telecommunication industry. What are reasons that make customers
purchase mobile phone connection of any particular company.
Either it is because of corporate brand or it is because of the service,
loyalty, price or any other reason. This research will examine that in mobile
phone telecommunication either corporate brand is sufficient for a long term
customer base, and that brand association or there are any other factor for long
time survival of the company.
Chapter 2
Research Methodology
Objectives
Questionnaire
Recommendations and Suggestion
Objectives
To know about the most important factor which motivates
the customers to buy the product.
The study aims at analyzing as to what are the factors that motivate
the customer to buy the product i.e., is it the price that matters, is it the
features, brand name or anything else that customer would consider
before buying the company’s product.
To study the other factors like income, age, occupation
etc. which influence the buying behavior of customers.
Customers may buy according to the change in their income level,
different aged customers may buy different type cell phones, the
purchasing decision may also be based on their occupation or
designation. Hence the study aims at analyzing and understanding these
factors
To know the price range most preferred.
This objective of the study aims at knowing at what price range
majority of the customers would buy the mobiles.
To get suggestions for improvement.
Study also aims at improving the product according to the suggestions
given by the customers based on what they expect from the company or
its product.
To know the intensity of influence of advertisements and
other sales promotion measures on consumer behavior of
LG – GSM phones.
Study also aims at getting to how far has the medias have contributed
to the purchasing decision of the customers.
To know about changes the tastes and preferences of
customers.
Study aims at knowing the possible reasons for the change in
customer’s tastes and preferences with respects to various other factors.
To know how to improve after sales services to our
customers.
To analyse has to how far the customer is satisfied with after sales
service provided by the company and the measures to improve them
according to the needs of the customers.
To study the brand awareness of the LG GSM mobiles.
i.e., to know how well the people know about the LG GSM mobiles.
To develop marketing strategy.
The survey aims at studying the market growth to develop or
modify the marketing strategies accordingly.
To know the satisfaction level of the consumers.
This is the main objective of the survey that is to find out how far the
customers are satisfied with the company’s products.
To study the loyalty status of the customers
One of the aims of this survey is also to find out the extent of loyalty
of the customers.
To study the impact of competitors product on the
customers buying decision
This objective studies as to what are the factors that the customers
feel are superior to the LG brand.
Questionnaire
Dear Sir / Madam,
We are the students of Aloysius Institute of Business Administration (AIBA)
we are conducting a survey on “Consumer Behaviour and Brand Awareness in
GSM mobile sector”. We would like to know the consumer response towards LG
GSM mobiles and the information you provide will be helpful for our study.
We request you to fill the following questionnaire. Please fill it completely
and as accurately as you can. Confidentiality of the information is assured.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Name:
Address:
Phone no:
E mail:
Sex: Male [ ] Female [ ]
Age Group:
a) 18 – 25yrs. [ ] b)25yrs. – 35yrs. [ ]
c)35yrs. – 45yrs. [ ] d)45yrs. & above [ ]
Occupation:
a)Student [ ] b)Business [ ]
c)Service [ ] d)Others [ ]
Please Specify………………
Income Group:
a)Below 10,000 [ ] b)Rs.10,000 – Rs.15,000 [ ]
c)Rs.15,000 - Rs.20,000[ ] d)Above Rs.20,000 [ ]
1.Do you have a Mobile
a)Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]
2.Do you use one or more mobile devices?
(a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]
3.If Yes, which is the brand?
(a)Nokia [ ] b)Samsung [ ]
( c )Reliance [ ] (d) L.G. [ ] (e) Others [ ]
4. How long have you had this phone (months)?
(a)Less than 6months[ ] (b) Less than 1 year [ ] ( c) More than 1 year[ ]
5.Are you aware of our GSM mobile of L.G.?
(a) Yes [ ] (b) No [ ]
6.Who influenced you to buy Mobile ?
a)Friends [ ] b) Family [ ]
c)Advertisement [ ] d)Others [ ]
7.Which kind of mobiles you would like to prefer?
(a) Colour [ ] (b)Black & White [ ]
(c)Camera [ ] (d)Non Camera [ ]
8.What colour of phone would you prefer?
a) Black [ ] b) Silver [ ] c) Other [ ]
9. Do you prefer phones to be?
a) Slim [ ] b) Medium [ ] c) Thick [ ]
10. Do you prefer phones to be?
a) Light [ ] b) Medium [ ] c) Heavy [ ]
11. Do you prefer phones to be?
a) Small [ ] b) Medium [ ] c) Large [ ]
12.Which tasks do you find most?
(a)Useful [ ] (b)Easy to use[ ] (c )Challenging/Difficult [ ]
13.What are the factors you would prefer in LG Handsets ?
a)Price [ ] (b)Brand [ ] (c)Connectivity [ ] (d)Features [ ]
e)Battery Backup [ ] (f)Look [ ] (g)Weight [ ]
14.How much would you pay for the mobile?
a) <Rs.5,000 [ ] (B) >Rs.5,000 [ ]
15.As a customer would u switch to another brand of mobile phones if it is
offered at lower price compared to the LG GSM mobile ?
a)Yes [ ] b) No [ ]
A special thanks for your answers. All answers and your
personal information will be kept confidential unless agreed
otherwise. These answers will be a part our study on the use of
GSM mobile phones and services and users expectations and
needs.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
1. The company must maintain effective relationship between supply and
demand for lg gsm mobile phones.
2. The company must provide good incentives and facilities to dealers and
retail shops.
3. The company must create brand awareness in the minds of people
through effective advertisements.
4. Company must provide better after sales services.
5. The company should enter into agreements with other companies to
improve their sales.
6. The company must adopt all technological development in
telecommunication field.
7. The company must provide wide variety of products to suit all types of
customers.
8. The company should introduce mobile van facilities to reach rural and
semi-urban areas.
9. The company try target all age group people.
10. The company should advertise through radio since rural market is
expanding.
11. The company should introduce user friendly mobiles.
12. The company must form a group of people to study on consumer behavior
and marketing conditions.
13. The company should provide some gifts or gifts coupons to motivate the
customer to buy their products.
14. The company should provide facilities of online transactions to its
customers.
Bibliography
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6037268/Customer-
Buying Behavior
http://www.encyclocentral.com/25567-
LG_Cell_Phones_Nokia_Competitor_In_GSM_C
ellular_Sector_LG_KG800_LG_Shine_Buy_Onli
ne.html.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7530838/Mobile-
Marketing-Secrets-Revealed
http://www.scribd.com/doc/2021570/Questio
nnaire-regarding-mobile-phone-usage
http://www.scribd.com/doc/464861/How-to-
Develop-a-Mobile-Marketing-Strategy
