Chapter No.

1: Introduction

1.1 Reason for selecting the Topic

Branding and Brand based differentiation are powerful means for creating and
sustaining competitive advantage. Corporations for years are devising the Branding
strategy to achieve the highest return from investment in brands. Companies have a
wide variety of options available with respect to branding strategy. In spite of well
devised branding strategy, the brand varies in the amount of power and values in the
market place, at one extreme some brands are unknown to most of the buyer then there
are brands that had a fairly high degree of brand awareness, brand acceptability, and
brand preference and some commands high degree of brand loyalty.

In case of mobile phones, to understand consumer buying behaviour for brands

of the companies employing diverse branding strategy would be very crucial. As mobile
phones are becoming one of the basic necessity, it is important to study the consumer
buying behaviour to understand the consumer preferences and reasons for those
preferences.

1.2 Mobile Phone – A brief Introduction

1.2.1 Meaning of Mobile phone and Smartphone

A mobile phone, cell phone, or hand phone, occasionally shortened to

simply phone, mobile or just cell. Which is a portable telephone that can receive and
make calls over a radio frequency link although the user is moving within a telephone
service area. Mobile telephones are known as cell phones or cellular telephones because
modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture in North America.
In 2000s-era mobile phones support a variety of additional services, such as text
messaging, email, MMS, Internet access, short-range wireless communications like
Bluetooth, video games, business applications, and digital photography.

A smartphone is a cell phone that lets you to do more than just make phone calls and
send text messages. Smartphones are a class of mobile phone and multi- purpose mobile

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computing device. They are distinguish from mobile phone by their stronger hardware
capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, which facilitate wider software,
internet , and multimedia functionality (including music, video, cameras and gaming).
Smartphones typically include various sensors that can be leveraged by their software,
such as magnetometer, proximity sensors and many more, and support wireless
communications protocols such as Wi- Fi, Bluetooth and satellite navigation.

In 1992, the first commercially available device that could be properly referred to as a
“smartphone” began as a prototype called “Angler” developed by Frank Canova while
at IBM (International Business Machines Corporation). And demonstrated in
November of that same year at the COMDEX computer industry trade show.

1.2.2 History of Mobile phones

As early as 1940s, when engineers employed at AT&T developed cell for mobile
phone base stations, mobile phones were invented. But the very first mobile phones
were not actually mobile phones at all. They were only two–way radio which allowed
people like taxi drivers and the emergency services to communicate.

In 1973, the first handheld mobile phone was demonstrated by John F. Mitchell
and Martin Cooper of Motorola by using a handset weighing 2 kilograms. And the
world’s first cellular network that is analog(1G) launched by Nippon Telegraph and
Telephone(NTT) in Japan, in 1979. This was followed in 1981 by the immediate launch
of the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in the four country that is Denmark,
Norway, Finland and Sweden. And then many countries followed in the early to mid-
19880s. DynaTAC 8000x was the first commercially available handheld mobile phone
in 1983. In 1991, Radiolinja launched the second-generation(2G) digital cellular
technology in Finland on the GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)
standard. Ten years later, the third generation(3G) was launched by NTT DoCoMo in
Japan on the WCDMA(Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) standard, in 2001.
This was followed by some enhancements like 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo 3G based on high-
speed packet access(HSPA) family and permitting Universal Mobile
Telecommunications System (UMTS) to have higher capacity and higher data transfer
speeds. By 2009, it was clear that 3G Network would be overpowered by the growth of
bandwidth-intensive applications. The two very first commercially available
technologies to bill as 4G were the WiMAX Standard offered by Sprint in North

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America and the LTE Standard first offered by TeliaSonera in Scandianavia. 5G is a
technology will be the next major phase in mobile telecommunication standards.

In 1999, the first blackberry phone was unveiled. This phone was famous for
its super-easy email services and Blackberry handsets were seen as the ultimate
business tool which allows users to read and respond to emails from anywhere. In 2000,
the Nokia 3310 crash landed on shop shelves successfully. And Nokia 6750 was the
first camera phone arrived in 2002. In the year 2007, the iPhone was arrived in the
market.

1.2.3 Advantages of mobile phone

➢ Instant communication
Smartphones are advanced from the earliest communication devices. It has been
created to primarily improve people’s way of communicating with each other.
The arrival of smartphone technology modernized communications. It has
covered the way to SMS, text messaging, call, video chat, and apps that allow
people to instantly communicate to everyone across the globe.

➢ Web Surfing
The smartphones also make it convenient for people to surf the web. These
devices are integrated with mobile browsers that enable them to research and
access websites anytime and anywhere. According to a study, 10% of the total
time spent by people on smartphones is used in opening browsers to surf the
internet. With this, people have easy access to information.

➢ Entertainment
Smartphones are also viewed as a source of entertainment – games, music,
movies, and books. Moreover, users can listen to their favourite music.
Watching movies and reading e-books are also convenient through
smartphones.

➢ Book tickets and Bill payments

Many people are using their smartphones to pay their utility bills. We directly
pay our mobile bills, electricity bills, gas service bills, water bills etc. via
smartphones using different applications such as Paytm, PhonePe, etc.

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 Not only bills but also one can use smartphones to book tickets such as railway
tickets, air tickets, movie tickets, bus tickets etc.

➢ Education
Smartphones are also helpful in education, especially to University students.
With easy access to information and helpful content, students can have a more
interactive learning by watching educational videos and playing quiz & puzzle
games.

➢ Hundreds of Utilities
All the feature are now available in one device. You can easily access to past
and future Calendars and easily see the dates and years. Camera allows you to
capture thousands of images and can create videos. Now you have no need to
buy Calculator from outside because this facility is available in every mobile in
advance. A lot of smart phones, even simple sets also, have built-in torch.

➢ Data Transfer
Now you can easily transfer data from one device to another device. Your
photos, documents, videos and other important documents are easily transferred
from one device to another device within seconds. You can also store your data
in it.

➢ Map and Navigation: GPS

Your smartphone can act as a GPS device. There are many great navigation apps
that will help you find the location with ease. No matter if you are a driver or a
pedestrian, you will get the directions, so you won’t have to go around asking
people how to get somewhere. Many of the apps are also showing the places
with the traffic jam, so this can help you avoid the jam and arrive faster.

1.2.4 Disadvantages of mobile phone

➢ Costly
Smartphones can be expensive, especially those high-end phones with great
specs and features. Apart from the smartphone itself, some applications require

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 being purchased in order to fully use the other functionalities offered by the app.
If you also want data connectivity, you need to maintain a data plan.

➢ Distraction
Despite the productivity, smartphones can really be distracting. Applications
notify you when there are messages, updates, latest offers, etc. These interrupt
the momentum which can potentially affect your productivity. When you attend
to these notifications, you’ll find yourself attached to the phone.

➢ Addiction
Many of the time people wake up in the morning and checking their phones
first. This is an early sign of smartphone addiction. This problem may lead to a
serious addiction. This may include addiction to games, social media, etc.

➢ Health Issues
Smartphones are also found to have a negative impact on your health.
Smartphones emit radiofrequency energy which can be absorbed by the tissues
in the body. Sleep deprivation is also one of the common bad effects of using
smartphones. Moreover, phones produce HEV (High energy Visible) light
which can damage your eyes’ retina.

➢ Distance from Relatives

Use of mobile all the time keeps us far from our family, friends, colleagues and
other relatives. This is a big disadvantage that you don’t know about your family
and friends.

➢ Loss of Human Life

These days we have seen an increase in the number of people losing their lives
due to the excess attention they pay to their cell phones, instead of what they are
actually doing. Some people click selfies while walking, others are on call, some
continue texting.

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➢ Impaired concentration/ attention span
This is directly related to the amount of time you can stay away from your
phone. The longer you can stay away from your phone, the more you can
concentrate on your work, or studies. However, checking our phones every ten
minutes or so for new notifications has almost become an instinct for us, and
every time we check the phone, we lose our concentration. Although that one
minute might seem insignificant, but the loss in concentration is very
significant for productivity.

1.3 Global scenario of mobile phone

From 1983 to 2014, worldwide mobile phone subscriptions raised
to over seven billion.

Graph 1.1: Total Worldwide Cellular Subscription

In first quarter of 2016, the top smartphone developers worldwide

were Samsung, Apple and Huawei, and smartphone sales represented 78 percent of
total mobile phone sales. For feature phones (or "dumbphones") as of 2016, the largest
were Samsung, Nokia, and Alcatel.

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Samsung, Huawei and Apple were the top smartphone developers worldwide in first
quarter of 2016. According to Garter, smartphone sales accounted for 78% of the total
mobile phone sales and grew to 3.9 percent in first quarter of 2016.

Motorola was the market lender in mobile phones from 1983 to 1998. And then
from 1998 to 2012, Nokia became the market lender in the mobile phones. In quarter
3 of 2012, Samsung overthrew the Nokia and became the largest manufacturer.

In 2017, the top five manufacturer of smartphones in worldwide were Samsung

(20.9%), Apple (14.0%), Huawei (9.8%), Oppo (7.3%) and Vivo (6.5%).

Table 1.1: Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2017

(Thousands of Units)

2017 2017 Market 2016 2016 Market

Vendor
Units Share (%) Units Share (%)

Samsung 321,263.3 20.9 306,446.6 20.5

Apple 214,924.4 14.0 216,064.0 14.4

Huawei 150,534.3 9.8 132,824.9 8.9

OPPO 112,124.0 7.3 85,299.5 5.7

Vivo 99,684.8 6.5 72,408.6 4.8

Others 638,004.7 41.5 682,915.3 45.7

Total 1,536,535.5 100.0 1,495,959.0 100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2018)

In Q4 2017, the market share of top five worldwide smartphone sales to the
end users were Samsung (18.2%), Apple (17.9%), Huawei (10.8%), Xiaomi (6.9%),
Oppo (6.3%).

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Table 1.2:Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q17
(Thousands of Units)

4Q17 4Q17 Market 4Q16 4Q16 Market

Vendor
Units Share (%) Units Share (%)

Samsung 74,026.6 18.2 76,782.6 17.8

Apple 73,175.2 17.9 77,038.9 17.8

Huawei 43,887.0 10.8 40,803.7 9.4

Xiaomi 28,187.8 6.9 15,751.3 3.6

OPPO 25,660.1 6.3 26,704.7 6.2

Others 162,908.8 39.9 195,059.1 45.1

Total 407,845.4 100.0 432,140.3 100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2018)

In third quarter of 2018, the top five manufacturer were Samsung (20.3%), Huawei
(14.6%) surpassed Apple as the world's second-largest phone manufacturer during
Q2 2018 and Apple (13.2%), Xiaomi (9.7%) and OPPO (8.4%).

Table 1.3: Top 5 Smartphone Companies, Worldwide Shipments, Market

Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q3 2018(shipments in millions of units)

3Q18 3Q18 3Q17 3Q17

Company 3Q18/3Q17
Shipment Market Shipment Market
Change
Volumes Share Volumes Share

Samsung 72.2 20.3% 83.3 22.1% -13.4%

Huawei 52.0 14.6% 39.1 10.4% 32.9%

Apple 46.9 13.2% 46.7 12.4% 0.5%

Xiaomi 34.3 9.7% 28.3 7.5% 21.2%

OPPO 29.9 8.4% 30.6 8.1% -2.1%

Others 119.9 33.8% 149.8 39.6% -19.9%

Total 355.2 100.0% 377.8 100.0% -6.0%

Source: IDC Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, November 1, 2018

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Notes:

Data are preliminary and subject to change.

Company shipments are branded device shipments and exclude OEM sales for all
vendors.

The "Company" represents the current parent company (or holding company) for all
brands owned and operated as a subsidiary.

1. 4 Current scenario of Indian mobile phone companies

India has been playing a prominent role in the global economy, and has also
enjoyed a prominent place in the world’s mobile market from last many years.

In a statement issued by the Indian Cellular Association (ICA) and

India’s Information Technology (IT) Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on March 28th, 2018
which indicates that “India has now emerged as the second largest producer of mobile
handset by volume”.

As much as mobile market is concerned, India has already proven to be a giant

in the sector in terms of both a producer and a consumer. Since 2016, India has the
fastest growing smartphone market in the world. And from the February of 2015 report
has confirmed that India’s mobile market has already surpassed the USA, establishing
itself as the second largest in the world, behind China in the top spot.

By India’s increased production capacity and reduced dependence on importing

smartphones, the emphasis for trading partners and external supplier from the global
economy has shifted toward servicing the infrastructure and software environment
needs of the mobile market in India.

Smartphone has formed new dimensions for business in Indian market. It is

not only the smartphone sellers who are enjoying the business but it also created a new
area for mobile application developing companies in India. Internet services providers
and other sectors of life to utilize the smartphone to gain competitive advantages.

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From the latest report published by market research firm CyberMedia Research
(CMR), revealed that “Make In India” handsets contributed 67% to the total sales. And
India shipped a total 52.8 million handsets, which is a 4% decline as compared to the
number of handsets shipped in the same quarter of the last year. To enhance the
contribution of the manufacturing sector towards the GDP, the step first step was taken
as the Make in India campaign to craft a manufacturing core in the nation.

Table 1.4: Top 5 Indian Smartphone Company Shipments, Market Share and
Year-Over-Year Growth, Q2 2018(shipments in millions)

In second quarter of 2018, the top four companies in term of market share
were Xiaomi became the leading smartphone brand in India with 29.7%, Samsung
(23.9%), Vivo (12.6%) and OPPO (7.6%).

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Graph 1.2: Two years comparison of Top 5 Smartphone Company Market
Share and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q3 2018(in percentage)

In Q3 of 2018, Xiaomi was top manufacturer in terms of market share with

27.3%. Whereas Samsung’s market share decreased to 22.6% and market share of Vivo
was 10.5%. While Micromax and OPPO were in the list of top five manufacturers in
India with market share of 6.9% and 6.7% respectively in Q3 2018.

1.5 Brand and its Variables

1.5.1 Meaning and Definition of brand

In the book Principles of Marketing, according to Philip Kotler and Gary

Amstrong, a brand is defined as a “name, term, sign symbol (or a combination of these)
that identifies the maker or seller of the product”.

According to the American Market Association (AMA) a brand is defined as ― A

name, symbol, design, or some combination which identifies the product, differentiate
them from those of competition (Keller, 2003, p3)

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A brand is an recognizing symbol, mark, logo, name, word and/or sentence that
companies use to differentiate their product from others.

A brand gives particular information about the organization, goods or service,

distinguishing it from others in marketplace. Brand carries an assurance about the
features that make the product or service unique. A strong brand is a means of making
individuals aware of what the company represents and what are its offerings.

Meaning of branding

Branding is the process of giving a meaning to specific company, products or

services by creating and shaping a brand in consumers’ minds. It is a strategy designed
by companies to help people to quickly identify their products and organization, and
give them a reason to pick their products over the competition’s, by clarifying what this
particular brand is and is not.

1.5.2 Six Dimensions of the Brand

Kotler (1999) extends the concept of identity by stating that brand is capable of
conveying up to six different stages of meaning and which is known as “Six
Dimensions of the Brand”. And they are as follows:

• Attributes: A brand communicates certain attributes to the minds of consumers

such as prestige, well built, durable, high resale value, and so on. The company
may use one or more of these attributes to advertise the product.
• Benefits: A Brand is more than the attributes. Customers are buying benefits
not the attributes. Benefits makes the product more attractive.
• Values: That is the brand also represents the company’s values, systems and
structure.
• Culture: The Brand may represent a certain culture. And the brand
representing the characteristics of the target audience.
• Personality: The brand can project behavioural personality patterns of targeted
consumers.
• User: The Brand recommends the kind of consumer who buys or uses the
product. The users will be those who respect the culture, product’s value and
personality.

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1.5.3 Characteristics of a brand

• A brand is an asset or a blueprint (logo, shape, colour) which is extensively and

proactively protected by the company or organization through legal means.
• Secondly, a brand has a certain group of audience that it aims at.
• The brand can also be used as collateral for financial obligations and can be
traded as an asset.
• Brands also represent what the organization stands for. For example, the
moment you see the Dominos brand, fast food marketer is pictured.

1.5.4 The Development of Brand Equity

Boone and Kurtz (2005) refers to brand equity as “the added value that a certain
brand name gives to a product in the market – place”.

American Marketing Association defines brand equity as “The value of a brand.

From a consumer perspective, brand equity is based on consumer attitudes about
positive brand attributes and favourable consequences of brand use.”

Branding expert David Aaker defined brand equity (1991) as “A set of assets and
liabilities linked to a brand, its name and symbol, that adds to or subtracts from
the value provided by a product or service to a firm and/or to that firm’s
customers.”

Aaker and McLaughlin (2007) examines the sources of brand equity to be in the
form of brand awareness, perceived quality, brand associations and brand loyalty.

Sources of Brand Equity

Brand Equity consists of four dimensions that is brand awareness, perceived quality,
brand association and brand loyalty, each providing value to a firm in many ways.

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A. Brand Awareness

The first step of building equity is awareness of the brand name among target
consumer. A simple meaning of awareness is customer know about the
existence of the brand and can remember that what category the brand is in. The
company can build awareness by making the brand visible to the target audience
by several promotional approaches such as advertising, sponsorship, publicity,
events, etc. And the brand which has higher awareness are purchased more
frequently.

B. Perceived Quality

Perceived quality is the perception of the customer buying behaviour

about the overall quality of a brand. In assessing quality, the customer first
consider the performance of the brand on parameters that are important to him/
her. And accordingly he or she makes judgement about quality. A most
influencing factor in quality perception is pricing decisions of companies.
Hence the main reasons of the consumer preference for a brand in any product
category is quality.

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 C. Brand Association

Brand association is made with brand by consumer. It is anything

that is connected to the customer’s memory about the brand so that consumer
can recall the brand. Customers form association on the basis of quality
perception of consumers, their interactions with employee, price point,
advertisements of the brand at which the brand is sold, and many more. All
these associations are not formed only due to their interactions with the
organisation. There are many associations which are formed from what others
tell customers about the brand.

D. Brand Loyalty

The most important indicator of brand equity is brand loyalty because loyalty
develops after the purchase of product and indicates a constant support by a
customer over a longer period of time. Brand loyal customers form the
foundation of a company.

If a customer consistently purchases one brand from among a set of

alternatives then he is said to be a Brand Loyal Customer. Traditionally, Brand
loyalty was always regarded to be related to repetitive purchase behaviour. But
this repetitive purchase behaviour may not occur in case of purchasing a house
or an automobile. In such cases, consumer feeling of the brand purchased is
measured.

Brand loyalty also acts as a potential barrier to new entrants and gives time
to the company to respond to competitive threats.

1.6 Consumer behaviour

1.6.1 Meaning and Definition

(Belch and Belch, 1993) Consumer behaviour is defined as “the process and
activities that people engage in when searching for, selecting, purchasing, using,
evaluating, and disposing of products and services so as to satisfy their needs and
desires”.

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 According to the American Marketing Association, Consumer behaviour is “the
dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behaviour and environmental events by
which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives.”

Consumer behaviour is the study of how the individual customers, groups or

organizations select, purchase, use, and dispose ideas and goods and services to satisfy
their needs and wants. It refers to the actions of the consumers in the marketplace and
the fundamental motives for those actions.

Marketers predict that by understanding what causes the consumers to buy

particular goods and services, they will be able to determine—which products are
required in the marketplace, which are obsolete, and how best to present the goods to
the consumers.

1.6.2 Different Types of Consumer Buying Roles

There are many buyers for different products. Consumers make many
decisions regarding purchases of product that depend on the direct communication with
the marketers. For some products involve a decision-making unit consisting of more
than one person. There are five main buying roles. They are as follows:

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 a) Initiator: The person who decides to start the buying a particular product or
service.
b) Influencer: The person who tries to convince others to buy a particular
product. And we can also say that a person whose advice influences the
decision.
c) Decider: The person who makes the final decision of buying a product or
service. A decider can be a person who decides on any component of buying
decision like
• Whether to buy,
• What to buy,
• Why to buy,
• When to buy and
• How to buy
d) Buyer: The person who is going to buy the product directly from the market
like shop or the person who makes actual purchase.
e) User: The person who uses or consumes the product or service.

1.6.3 Consumer Decision Making Process

Consumer Decision Making Process is process of recognizing and verifying

the decision of the consumer by the marketers or the business leaders. For them the
End Consumer is the heart and soul of the business stability. But the End Consumer
may or may not be the purchaser of the company product.

There is difference between consumer and customer. The Customer is the person
who buys a goods or services, that is, someone who actually pays the money from his
or her income to purchase the product. And the Consumer is the person who actually
consumes or uses that product. The End consumer and the Actual Customer are a part
of the Decision-Making Process.

Consumer behaviour is the psychological process from which an individual goes

through in order to find needs, to find the resource or way to accomplish that need and
to make the buying decision. There are the 5 stages of Consumer Decision Making
Process. They are as follows:

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Stage 1: Need Recognition

The first step is recognizing the need in the consumer decision making process.
The need is the most significant element which leads towards the actual buying of the
product or service. If there is no need then purchase cannot take place. And the need
may have been triggered by internal stimuli such as thirst or hunger or external stimuli
such as advertising.

Stage 2: Search for Information

After recognizing the need, next step is searching and collecting

information. When it comes to choosing between alternatives individuals may have
doubt, therefore they need all the information before spending their money. During this
stage consumer evaluates the entire positive and negative aspect of the purchase. And
due to change in online shopping sites and trends the consumers are informed and able
to make better decision for their purchase.

Information can be collected from many different sources like personal contacts, prints
and commercial information source (TV Ads, electronic media) about certain product.

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Stage 3: Evaluation of Alternatives

This is the third step in consumer decision making process. The consumer
commence to search out for the best option and he has identified the need and also
source to satisfy that need. And then the consumer will evaluates different options
product quality, product price, product quantity and features of the product or other
important factors. After evaluating the option customers review and compare prices for
the substitute products before choosing the product that will help him or her in
satisfying the need at the best possible manner. The consumer choose the product based
upon his or her style, taste, income and preference.

Stage 4: Purchase Decision

To purchase a particular product, a consumer have to decide what to buy, where to

buy after going through all the above stages. In this stage consumer makes decision to
buy a product based upon their needs and wants.

Stage 5: Post Purchase Evaluation

The final step in consumer decision making process is that the consumer
evaluates or analyses the purchased product, usefulness of the product, satisfaction level
from the product and also value of the product with respect to the need fulfilment of the
consumer. Then the consumer may come to know the right choice has been made in
buying that particular product or not. If the consumer feels that the product bought
delivered the value and also has met the expectation then they will become the loyal
customers of the product.

1.6.4 Marketing Influence on Consumer Behaviour

Marketing strategies are designed to influence consumer decision making which

lead to profitable exchanges. Each of the component of the marketing mix can affect
consumers in some or the other way. In this regard, Peter and Donnelly Jr. explains how
the marketing mix, that is, 4Ps affect consumer behaviour.

• Product
Many characteristics of a company’s products, including brand name,
quality, newness can affect consumer behaviour. A marketer needs to design

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 products or services that would satisfy needs or wants of consumer. The
physical appearance of the product like size, shape; packaging, labelling can
influence consumer decision. Therefore marketer has to decide about
important aspects of service, packaging, condition to differentiate their
product from the other, so that it create consumer perception that the product
is worth purchasing.
• Price
The price is the second most important component of marketing
mix. Price of the products and services can influence consumer buying
behaviour. If the particular brand offer lowest price then more consumers get
attracted towards that brand. It is important for the marketer to decide what
price to be charged for a product or service to stay competitive in a today’
competitive market.
• Promotion
Sales promotions, publicity, sales people and advertising can influence
what consumers think about products, what emotions they experience while
purchasing and using a particular product. Marketing communication play a
crucial role in informing consumers about products and services, including
from where they can buy and in creating favourable image and perceptions.
Therefore marketer need to decide which method would be most suitable to
effectively reach the consumers.
• Place
The final stage of marketing mix is distributing channel. The
marketer has to strategize for distributing channel, that is, how and where to
offer the products and services to the consumers. The marketer’s strategy for
distributing products and services can influence in many different ways. The
following decisions are taken care of by the marketer regarding distribution
mix:
Whether the distribution should be done through all the retail outlets
or only through selected outlets
Whether the marketer should use existing outlets or new elite outlets
selling only the marketer’s brands

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 Importance of location of the retail outlet from the point of view of
consumers
Various other distribution options such as Direct selling and marketing

1.6.5 Factor influencing Consumer behaviour

An understanding of the buyer behaviour is essential for the marketers in the

marketplace and underlying their motives for such actions. There are certain variables
of factors that influence the consumer behaviour with regards to their purchase decision
making process. These are :

➢ Cultural factors: It is something that an individual studies the set of values,

behaviours, perceptions and preferences at a very early stage of his childhood
from the individuals especially, the family and other institution which were
around during his or her developmental stage. Thus, the cultural factors also
influence the buying behaviour of consumers. And they are:
• Culture: It is the most fundamental element of person’s want
and behaviour which the growing child gets a set of values,
perceptions, behaviour and preferences through his or her
family and other key institutions.

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 • Sub-culture: Sub-culture plays an important role in consumer
buying behaviour. Sub-culture involves religions, nationalities,
racial groups and geographical region. And the marketers often
design marketing programmes customized to their needs.
• Social Factors: Social class are hierarchically ordered and
whose members share similar values, behaviour and interests.
And social classes don’t reflect only income but also reflect
other indicators such as education, occupation and area of
residence.

➢ Social factors: The human beings live in a complicated social environment

wherein they are surrounded by many people who have different buying
behaviours. Therefore social factors influence the individual’s buying
behaviour to a great extent. They are as follows:
• Family: The family is the most important factor which influence
the buying behaviour of individual in society.
• Reference groups: Reference groups includes all the groups that
have a direct or indirect influence on the person’s attitudes or
behaviour. And the groups having direct influence on the person
are termed as membership groups.
• Role and statuses: Role and status means a person’s position in
each group that he participated throughout his or her life that is
family, club and organisation. And a role consist of activities
that a person is likely to perform. Each role carries a status.

➢ Personal Factors: A decisions of buyer are also influenced by some personal

characteristics. These involves buyer’s occupation, age and phase or stage of
life cycle, economic circumstances, personality and self-concept and lifestyle.
• Occupation: Consumption pattern also influences by a person’s
occupation. Marketers try to recognize the occupational groups
that have above-average interest and accordingly company can
specialise its product for certain occupational groups.

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 • Age and stage of life cycle: People purchase different goods
and services over their lifetime. For example, they eat baby
food in the early years and most of food in the growing and
mature years and t diets or special foods in the later years. So
the people’s taste is age related.
• Economic circumstances: Product choice are greatly affected
by one’s economic conditions. Economic stability consist of
their disposable income (its level, time pattern and stability) ,
saving and assets, debts borrowing power and attitude toward
spending verses saving.
• Lifestyle: It is not important that people coming from same
social class, subculture and occupation have same lifestyle.
They may have different lifestyle. And the lifestyle of
individual expressed in the persons activities, opinion and
interest.
• Personality and self-concept: Each person has a different
personality that influences his or her buying behaviour.
Personality means a person’s distinguishing psychological
characteristics. Personality can be a useful for analysing
consumer behaviour.

➢ Psychological Factors: The human psychology plays a vital role in designing

the consumer’s preferences and likes or dislikes for a particular product and
services. There are four major psychological factor which influence the
consumer behaviour. They are:
• Motivation: The individual has many needs at any given time. A
need becomes motive when it is provoked to a sufficient level of
intensity. Motivational researchers hold that each product is capable
of moving a unique set of motive in consumers.
• Perception: Perception is the process by which an individual selects,
organizes and interpret information to make a meaningful picture.
And motivated person is ready to act. When the motivated person
really act, he is influenced by his or her perception of the condition.

23
 • Learning: Learning involves changes in a behaviour of individual
arising from experience. Learning theory teaches marketers that
they can build up demand for a product by relating it with strong
drives, using motivating signs and providing positive support.
• Beliefs and Attitudes: A belief is an expressive thought that a person
hold about something. While doing or learning something, people
acquire beliefs and attitudes which in turn influence their buying
behaviour. And attitude is an individual’s enduring favourable or
unfavourable evaluation, emotional feeling and action tendencies
towards some idea or object.

1.7 The key players of mobile phone companies in Indian

market

Xiaomi:

Xiaomi is a Chinese electronics company and it has headquarter in

Beijing. Xiaomi was founded in 2010 by Lei Jun. Xiaomi released its first ever
smartphone in August 2011. In Q3 2018, it is the fourth largest manufacturer in
the world. In India, the Xiaomi became the leading smartphone manufacturer in
Q2 2018 with a market share of 29.7%. Xiaomi has transformed the budget
smartphone market in India with their phones and their unique marketing
strategies like flash sale and exclusive launch.

There are many reasons that favour the company by the Indian
audience. One of the best reason is Xiaomi offers high-end smartphone at
affordable prices. Its own MIUI operating system platform which is quite popular
and also has quite a following. Talking about top products of Xiaomi, the Redmi
Note 4 was the best-selling smartphone in India. And the company shipped

24
roughly 4 million units in that quarter which propelled the company to the top
mobile phone companies in India.

Samsung:

Samsung Electronics is South Korea based company and it has headquarter

in Suwon. It was founded in 1969 and the chairman of Samsung is Lee Kun-hee.
In Q3 2012, Samsung was the largest manufacturer of devices running Google
Android with a market share of 46% hence the top mobile phone companies in
India.

For Q3 2017, the IDC (International Data Corporation) reveals that Samsung
captured a 23.5% market share. J- series helped the company sustain its spot. As
per the IDC report, some of the best-selling models of Samsung were Samsung
Galaxy J2, Samsung Galaxy J7 Nxt and Samsung Galaxy J7 Max had contributed
to almost 60% of the volume for the company to become the top mobile phone
companies in India in 2017.

According to the IDC report, Samsung became the second largest smartphone
manufacturer in India with a 23.9% market share in the Q2 2018.

Vivo:

Vivo Communication Technology co. ltd is generally referred as Vivo and

it is Chinese company. It has headquarter in Dongguan, China and founded by
Shen Wei in 2009. It is another Chinese smartphone maker company to enter
India recently. The company makes low-cost Android phones and those in the

25
mid-range segment of the market. In Q1 2015, the company joined the ranks of
the top mobile phone companies in India with a 2.7% market share.

Vivo discovered the world’s first smartphone with an in-display fingerprint

sensor at CES 2018. CES is nothing but the world's gathering place for all those
who flourish on the business of consumer technologies. It used the “ClearID”
technology which is developed by US- based company Synaptics. Vivo released
the X1 which is the first Vivo phone to use a Hi-Fi chip in 2012. And developed
by American semiconductor company Cirrus Logic. Vivo followed this up in the
year 2013 by releasing the Xplay 3S. It is the world’s first 2k-resolution screen
phone.

Apple:

In 1976, Apple was founded by Steve Job, Steve Wozniak and Ronald
Wayne. It is an American multinational technology company and headquartered
in Cupertino, California, U.S. Apple started as a personal computer inventor that
today makes everything from mobile to portable media players. Apple phones are
called iPhones, it is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc.
and run on Apple’s iOS mobile operating system.

On 29 June, 2007, the first generation iPhone was released and there have
been multiple new hardware iterations with new iOS releases since. In 2017, the
iPhone 8 and iPhone 8Plus were out which adding an improved screen and camera
and a glass back. Along with the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8Plus, the iPhone X was
released. And it provides bezel-less design, new facial recognition system, named
face ID and many more. From India revenue of Apple have doubled year over
year.

26
OnePlus:

OnePlus is a Shenzhen-based Chinese company. It was founded by the

former OPPO vice-president Pete Lau and Carl Pei in 2013. And it has
headquarter in Shenzhen, Guangdong ,China. The smartphone claim flagship-
level specifications and features but price at the mid-range segment. OnePlus One
was the first smartphone which was launched in India in 2014. And the another
smartphone launched by OnePlus that is OnePlus 3. It was the first smartphone
to claim 6GB RAM and Snapdragon 820 processor.

In Q2 2017, the premium-range smartphone had witnessed OnePlus becoming

the market leader. During Q2 2017, more than half of premium smartphones sold
online were OnePlus, to be specific, OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 5. This has helped
the company to become one of the top mobile phone companies in India.

And the latest release of OnePlus was OnePlus 5T which was sold out
within five minutes of the special one-hour preview sale of Amazon.

27
 Chapter No. 2: Research Methodology

Research methodology refers to where and how the research is going to be

conducted. This chapter will presents the some selected industry consumers and
research method, several research methodologies were used in the whole process of
undertaking research around the area occupied consumes. And the research
methodologies contains research design, sampling techniques and sample size,
population of the study and data collection procedures and many more.

2.1 Objective of the study

• To study the brand preference for mobile phones among the consumers.
• To study the reasons of particular brand preference.
• To study the factor influencing consumer buying behaviour
• To find out an impact of brands on consumer behaviour.

2.2 Scope of the study

This study is intended to find out the effectiveness of the text based survey
questioning for specific parameters in mobile phone buying decision making
process. The scope of the research is to identify the kind of similarities or
differences in responses when questions related to mobile phone buying is asked.
It also aims to identify the strength of responses from end users.

➢ The present study is conducted in western suburbs of Mumbai city;

➢ This study helps to know the factors which influence the consumer to
purchase mobile phones;

➢ This study helps to know the buying behaviour of the consumer while
choosing mobile phones;

➢ This study also helps to know the consumers satisfaction level towards
different branded mobile phones;

28
 ➢ This study also helps to know reason for dissatisfaction of the consumer
towards particular brands.

➢ In future the methodology to evaluate responses for buying behaviour

through image-based survey can be induced and used in different areas to
check the willingness to pay for a product or service.

2.3 Limitation of the study

The research will have the some limitations. They are as follows:

• The research has been prepared within the time span of one month and
therefore there was limited time for conducting the research and the literature
review.
• The research is based on the sample size of 117 and mainly quantitative
measure was taken to measure the consumer buying behaviour towards
different mobile phone brands.
• Opinion of respondents have been taken as true sense which may not be
correct.
• This study is limited to the western suburb only.

2.4 Significance of the problem

This study emphasizes on the consumer behaviour towards branding of

mobile phones. As we know that mobile phones have become integral part of our
lives, it is important to know and understand different factors which influence the
buying decisions of the consumers. This study allows us to outline the consumer
preferences towards various brands and reasons for the same. It also helps the
mobile phone industry to understand the consumer behaviour towards their
branding strategy and helps them to adopt the technological advancement and
achieve the brand loyalty of consumers towards their products. Hence, this study
is beneficial to the players of mobile phone industry to understand their
consumers better and gain competitive advantage over others by adopting new
and innovative branding strategies.

29
2.5 Research Problem

With the advent and rapid growth of the technological era, the demand for
mobile phones has increased. Mobile phones are useful for communication and
are convenient especially for students. Mobile phones are now a necessity in the
lives of people. Due to rapid developments in technology, modernization and new
innovations, there is a short mobile phone lifecycle which has a tremendous
impact on the manufacturers and retailers of such products. Manufacturers are
forced to upgrade and design new models of mobile phones on an ongoing basis.
However, the rapid introduction of cheaper version of mobile phones has
increased the rate of competition between companies in the mobile industry.

The purpose of the study was to explore and gain an understanding of the
factors that influence brand preference in a specific group in a specific
geographical location within western suburbs of Mumbai city in Maharashtra,
India.

2.6 Research design

According to Bryman and Bell (2007, p 40), a research design provides

a framework for the collection and analysis of data. A choice of research design
reflects decisions about the priority being given to a range of dimensions of the
research process. Research design is a sound and systematic plan prepared for
guiding research study.

2.7 Geographical area and population of the study

The population of this study comprises of the Western Suburbs that is

the western zone of the city of the Mumbai, India. It consist of Andheri, Bandra,
Borivali, Dahisar, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Juhu, Kandivali, Khar, Malad
Santacruz and Vile Parle. According to 2011 census, total population western
suburb was 6220000. And it was also the most densely populated area with 15000
people per square kilometre.

2.8 Sample

For this study convenience sampling method is used. The research was
conducted on the basis of primary data collected through questionnaire designed to

30
 collect information of data about the impact of branding of mobile phones on
consumer buying behaviour. The researcher has taken opinion from 117
respondents.

2.9 Sampling method

For this study purpose, non-probability sampling method is used as it is

because determining the population size of people preferring various mobile phone
brands is difficult.

2.10 Data Collection Procedure

Raw data or primary data is a term for data collected source. This type of
information is obtained directly from first hand sources by means of surveys,
observations and experimentation and not subjected to any processing or
manipulation and also called primary data.

Primary as well as secondary source of data are used while conducting the
research. The researcher has used secondary source of data such as internet,
research papers, reports for background study, literature review. The researcher has
used primary data collected through questionnaire. And 117 responses has taken
by the researcher.

2.11 Instrumentation

For this research questionnaire is used as the instrument. And the questionnaire
included the questions regarding customer’s brand preference and attributes choice
on mobile phone. The questionnaire focus more on qualitative aspect than the
quantitative aspect of the respondents. Questionnaire will consist of various types
of question such as Likert scale question, multiple response questions, matrix
question and others.

This research was conducted on the basis of primary data collected through
questionnaire.

➢ Questionnaire
In this method a questionnaire is sent via mail or some other sources to
the concerned respondents who are expected to read, understand and reply on
their own and return the questionnaire. It consists of a number of questions

31
 printed or typed in definite order on a form or set of forms. There are some
essentials of a good questionnaire such as it should be short and simple,
questions should proceed in logical sequence, technical term must be avoided,
etc.
▪ Advantages
o Free from bias of interviewer.
o Respondents have adequate time to give answers
o Respondents are easily and conveniently approachable
o Large samples can be used to be more reliable
▪ Disadvantages
o Dishonest answers
o Difference in understanding and interpretation
o Questionnaire or survey exhaustion

2.12 Data Management and Analysis

For this research study, the researcher has used MS EXCEL for the analysis of
the data. With the help of this software , the data collected form the primary source
were classified, tabulated and analysed according to the needs of the research. In
this research, findings from the data analysed were presented using tables, charts
and percentage and response frequency graphs. Frequency counts are the number
of times certain values arise in datasets, for example the number of respondents
giving a particular answer.

32
 Chapter No. 3: Literature Review
According to Aggarwal (2004), prior research has examined differences in how
consumers perceive and evaluate brands, for example, through investigating brand
equity, brand personality and brand extensions. More recently, researchers have
noted that consumers differ not only in how they perceive brands but also in how
they relate to brands. This line of research has suggested that people sometimes
form relationships with brands in much the same way in which they form
relationships with each other in a social context.

According to Karjaluoto et al. (2005), brand, price, interface, and properties

inclines to have the most influential factors affecting the actual choice among
mobile phone brands.

According to Kotler and Keller (2009), In the eye of marketers, a consumer is

known as “a man with a problem” Therefore a consumer purchase is the response
to that problem. The process that a consumer takes in his decision making is quite
interesting to most of the large companies. They are extremely trying to research
the consumer buying process to find out what consumers buy, where and how they
buy, when and why they buy. It is easier for researchers to find the answers for
what, how, where, when and how much consumers buy but it is not that much easy
to find why they buy. The reason is “the answers are often locked within the
consumer’s head”.

According to Ulas Akkucuk and Javed Esmaeili (2016), they want to understand
the factor that affect the buying behaviour of consumer. Brand name may be the
most vital and effective strategy which influence consumer behaviour at the time of
selection of product. They have been studied different aspect such as brand, brand
equity, consumer behaviour. And then they had concluded that the brand loyalty
and brand awareness influenced the consumer’s decision while purchasing
smartphone. According to their sample, it indicate that brand association and brand
awareness were not influenced the consumer purchase decision.

Anderson and Sullivan (1993), Found that the customer’s satisfaction affects the
customer in building their will to re purchase any item. Provision of quick complaint
handling and effective customer service help the management to prevent building

33
of any negative impressions by the customer. Although some company can have
very good quality and product but still they suffer because element of interaction
with customer is missing and they don’t get the exact information about customer’s
need.

Batra & Ahtola, (1991), In case of mobile phone purchases, a consumer may go
through all the five stages of rational decision making or he may make quick
purchase on account of hedonic considerations. The general belief is that in case of
utilitarian products, rational decision making is involved, whereas in case of
hedonic products, emotional decision making is involved. For mobile phone
purchase, both rational and hedonic considerations may drive consumers.

Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, (2006), Consumer buying behaviour is influenced

by two major factors. These factors are individual and environmental. The major
categories of individual factors affecting consumer behaviour are demographics,
consumer Knowledge, perception, learning, motivation, personality, beliefs,
attitudes and life styles. The second category of factors is environmental factors.
Environmental factors represent those items outside of the individual that affect
individual consumer’s decision making process. These factors include culture,
social class, reference group, family and household. The above mentioned factors
are the major determinants behind the decision of consumers to opt a given good or
service.

Bronnenberg, Dube, and Mathew (2010) wrote that much of consumer’s

observed willingness to pay for brands may reflect the influence of past experiences.
Heterogeneity in brand capital explains a substantial share of geographic variation
in purchases. Brand capital evolves endogenously as a function of customer’s life
histories, and decays slowly once formed. Brand capital can explain large and long
lasting advantages to first movers. Brand preferences play an especially important
role in categories with high levels of advertising and social visibility.

Chowdhury & Rahman (2013) studied the relationship between demographic

variables on the brand preference and identified the attributes that affect the choice
behaviour of mobile handsets as well as why the young consumers give special
emphasis to some particular factors in the Chittagong metropolitan city. young

34
respondents emphasize less importance on durability, price, others advice and
opinion because of their swift switching attitude. As a whole, Samsung is competing
with industry leader Nokia, Symphony, Sony Erricson and other brands grab a share
of the youth market.

Das (2012) conducted an empirical research based on survey method on factors

influencing buying behaviour of youth consumers towards mobile handsets in
coastal districts of Odisha located in India. According to the study, a handset of
reputed brand, smart appearance, and with advanced value added features and
usability; is the choice of young consumers; females in gender-group, post-
graduates in level of education-group, students in occupational group, urban
residents in geographical area group plays most prominent role in buying decision
of a mobile handset.

Ehtesham Mohammad (2012) studied that while making the purchase decision, a
consumer is influenced by several social, cultural and economic factors surrounding
him. The factors that determine mobile phone handset purchase vary from one age
to another, between male and female, one ethnic group to another and from various
psychographic and behavioural patterns. It is also noted that the all factors- whether
technological, design, brands, purposes and social reference groups played a role in
influencing consumer behaviour in selection of mobile phone handsets.

Gopal & Anjali & Aakanksha, (2013) studied showed that in today’s market
medium screen phone is quite popular, followed by large screen phones while the
only minority of buyers go for the small screen models as evident from the survey
conducted on consumers. As far as the size and weight of handsets are considered,
slim handsets are leading the consumer market, followed by medium and as for the
weight, light weighted phones are more popular while heavy weighted are the least
while medium weighted phones still hold a ground in the market as observed from
the study conducted.

Harish and Rajkumar (2011) examined service quality and customers preference
of cellular mobile service providers in India, using 125 cell phone users. The study
found that consumers’ perception varied in accordance with the communication
quality, call service, price, customer care and service provider’s quality. The study

35
found that price has significant positive impact on consumers’ perception of a
telecommunication service provider.

Hossain Pavel (2006) mentioned that brand preference is significantly correlated

with customer’s repurchase intention. Therefore, it is important to the management
of the company to make their brand preferable to the customers by taking necessary
steps like more promotional measures to uplift the image of the brand, to enhance
the budget regarding the brand related issues. Customer satisfaction is also the
significant variable that has a definite influence over brand preference. It is
considered to be a very significant factor to satisfy the existing as well as the
potential customers.
Keller (1993), Lassar et al. (1995) held the opinion that brand equity arose from
the customers’ confidence in a brand. The greater the confidence they place in the
brand, the more likely they are keen to pay a high price for particular brand.
Specifically, this confidence comes from five important considerations: first is the
brand performs its functions as designed; second, the social image is associated with
purchasing or owning the brand; third, consumers’ recognition and sentimental
attachment with brand; fourth, the balance between the brand’s value and its
functionalities; last is consumers trust in the brand.

Lacobucci, Ostrom, Grayson (1995) stated that a firm may fail to achieve better
customer satisfaction despite providing high quality service, because the properties
improved are not important from the customer’s point of view. In many cases
company are not directly interact with customers but they get information about
their product (that how much customer are satisfied with their product) from their
distributors and other market intelligence. Retailers and distributions are indirectly
representatives of the company.

Ling, Hwang and Salvendy (2006), surveyed college students to find their
preference of their present mobile phone. The results of their survey showed that
the physical appearance, size and menu organization of the mobile phones are the
most determinant factors affecting the choice of mobile phones.

Malasi (2012) examined the influence of product attributes on mobile phone

preference among undergraduate university students in Kenya. The study indicated
that varying the product attributes’ has an influence on the undergraduate students’

36
preferences on mobile phones. Various aspects of product and brand attributes were
considered such as colour themes, visible name labels, and mobile phone with
variety of models, packaging for safety, degree of awareness on safety issues, look
and design of the phone.

Mesay Sata (2013), studied the factor affecting the consumer buying decision of
mobile phones in Hawassa town. In that study, six factors were selected and
analysed. They are price, brand name, social group, product feature, durability and
after sale services. The result of that survey showed that price was the dominant
factor which affects the most while buying mobile phone. And the second most
important factor was feature of mobile phone though all features are not equally
important. He had recommended that mobile phone manufacturer should re-think
strategy while producing, marketing and distributing these devices. And also focus
more on brand personality, product design and many more since people fascinated
more towards new technology and they will be able to shift from one mobile phone
to another if it provides better technology. For that mobile phone companies should
perform periodic survey which will help them in identifying these new technology
features and decide which one to be added to its product. In turn, product design is
very important in the success of the brand.

Netemeyer et al. (2004) also accepted the dominant impact of brand equity on
customer response toward the branding campaign.

Pakola et al. (2010) attempted to investigate consumer purchasing motives in

cellular phone markets. The results indicated that while price and properties were
the most influential factors affecting the purchase of a new mobile phone, price,
audibility and friends’ operator were regarded as the most important in the choice
of the mobile phone operator.

Papanastassiu and Rouhani, (2006), the behaviour of consumer is related to the

physical action of a consumer, which can be measured straight. From that
frequency of visiting stores or shopping malls can be measured. To select a specific
store and then to go there is very difficult to select and observe directly. Where
different kinds of behaviour can be measured including a shopping pattern in stores.
And this kind of measurement is very hard. The behaviour can be analysed in
different ways like by offering lower price, better service and good quality.

37
Paul & Jerry C, (2005), the study of Consumer behaviour includes how an
individual or groups select, purchase, use or dispose of products, services ideas, or
experience to satisfy their need and desires. The consumer environment influences
how the consumers feel, consider and act. The environmental features are, for
example, comments taken from other customers, price, advertising, packing and
product appearance etc.

Paulo, Duarte and Mario (2010) quoted that several factors contribute to brand
preference, especially those related to brand identity, personality and image and
their congruence with consumer self-image. The main direct effects on brand
preference are the self-image congruence and the identity/ personality and image of
the brand. In addition to those, the level of involvement, social environment, risk
perception, demographic profile, and product visibility also show a positive
influence on brand preference.
Sandeep Kumar (2015) studied that the different product attributes that the
consumers gives importance in selecting a handset have been observed to be design,
price, internet connection, battery life, camera, video quality, apps downloading,
operating system and social networking. The product attributes help to select the
product when customer confused between different products.
Schiffman Kanuk (2004), he studied that consumer behaviour mainly sheds light
on how consumers decides to spend their various resources like time, money etc.
on various products so as to meet their needs and requirement. Consumer behaviour
encompasses study of what, when, why and where the consumers will buy their
products. It also focuses on how often the consumers use the products. Furthermore,
it also sheds light on how the consumers evaluate the products after the purchase
and the effect of evaluations on their future purchases.

Sharma M., (2012) consumer preferences define as the individual tastes, as

measured by utility, of various types of goods. Notice that preferences are
independent of income and prices. Ability to purchase goods does not determine a
consumer's likes or dislikes. Brand preference are dependent on various variables
which are customer used, that measured by utility.

Singh, (2012)conducted a study to identify the customer preferences towards

various mobile phone handsets in Punjab. In order to cope up with the research

38
purpose, primary data was collected and analysed which showed that Price
Consciousness, Multimedia options, Features and Looks and Brand Image were the
four factors significant in influencing the purchase behaviour of mobile phones.

Solomon, (2005), he studied the consumer decision making process which defines
different steps when a consumer goes through to purchase a product. If customer
desires to make a purchase he or she follows the steps in order to do complete this
purchase. Problem recognition comprises when consumer feel a significant
difference between the current state and ideal so consumer thinks that there is some
problem to be solved. The problem might be small or big. In the next step, the
consumer search for information about the product. The extent of information
search depend on on the level of consumer involvement. The level of involvement
is high, in case of expensive products. Conversely, in case of relatively cheap
products the level of involvement is generally low. In the third step, the consumer
14 evaluates the different characteristics of the brands. Consumer may consider the
product attributes and then compare brand products. In the last and final step is that
consumer makes his choice about a product.

Subramanyam and Venkateswarlu (2012) conducted a study on factors

influencing buyer behaviour of mobile phone buyers in Kadapa district in India.
The researchers studied the various types of marketing strategies adopted by market
to acquire the attention and cognition of both existing and potential customers, and
to study what role these marketing strategies play in consumer buying process.
According to the results, income, advertising and level of education in a family are
the determining factors of owning a mobile phone set.

Vasita and Rajpurohot (2011) refers outcome of resulting from the customer's
pre-purchase comparison between of expected performance and actual performance
with affordable cost is customer satisfaction. If the actual performance of service
provider more than customers’ expected that means customers are satisfied. When
situation is opposite as like actual performance is less than expected that means
customers are dissatisfied.

39
 Chapter No. 4: Data Analysis and Interpretation

Data analysis & Research findings have been interpreted with respect to the
objectives of the study. While analysing the data, the research used quantitative and
qualitative techniques. Mathematical measures such as total and percentage are used in
Quantitative analysis whereas Qualitative analysis comprises of logical reasoning,
comparisons, interpretation, etc. Relevance of the findings supports the research
objective and the report ends by providing various suggestions and conclusions.

4.1 Primary Data Analysis

Table 4.1: Gender-wise Analysis

Gender Frequency Percentage(%)

Female 75 64.1

Male 42 35.9

Total 117

Graph 4.1: Gender-wise Analysis

70.00%
60.00% 64.10%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00% 35.90%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Female Male

From the above diagram, it can be seen that there are 64.1% (75) respondents are
female and 35.9% (42) respondents are male.

40
Table 4.2: Age-wise Analysis

Age Frequency Percentage(%)

Below 20 years 18 15.4

20 - 30 years 66 56.4

30 - 40 years 16 13.7

Above 40 years 17 14.5

Total 117

Graph 4.2: Age-wise Analysis

Age

14.50% 15.40%
Below 20 years

13.70% 20 - 30 years

30 - 40 years

Above 40 years

56.40%

From the above diagram we can observe that out of 117 respondents, 66
(56.4%) respondents are between the age group of 20 to 30 years. And 18 (15.4%)
respondents are of age group of below 18 years. While 17 (14.5%) respondents are
above 40 years and 16 (13.7%) respondents are between the age group of 30 years to
40 years.

41
Objective 1
Table 4.3: Consumer brand preference

Brands Frequency Percentage(%)

One + 36 30.8

Vivo 6 5.1

Xiaomi 22 18.8
iPhone 25 21.4

Samsung 20 17.1

Others 8 6.8

Total 117

From the above table, it can be seen that 30.8% (36) respondents’ favourite brand
is One+. And 21.4% (25) respondents, 18.8% (22) respondents, 17.1% (20)
respondents’ favourite brand is iPhone, Xiaomi and Samsung respectively. And only
6.8% (8) respondents have other brands as favourite and 5.1% (6) respondents’
favourite brand is Vivo.

Graph 4.3: Consumer brand preference

Consumer brand preference

35.00%
30.80%
30.00%

25.00%
21.40%
18.80%
20.00% 17.10%

15.00%

10.00%
6.80%

5.00%
5.10%

0.00%
One + Vivo Xiaomi iPhone Samsung Others

42
Objective 2

Table 4.4: Reason of particular brand preference

Peer/
Catchy Family
Better Reasonab Better
advertise usage Others
Outlook le price Feature
ment Satisfacti
on
F % F % F % F % F % F %
Sam
27 23.1 26 22.2 19 16.2 18 15.4 40 34.2 32 27.4
sung
One
34 29.1 22 18.8 25 21.4 49 41.9 20 17.1 25 21.4
+
iPho
39 33.3 11 9.4 32 27.4 23 19.6 17 14.5 29 24.8
ne
Xiao
11 9.4 45 38.5 13 11.1 22 18.8 34 29.1 19 16.2
mi
Vivo 6 5.1 13 11.1 28 23.9 5 4.3 6 5.1 12 10.2
Where, F: Frequency

From the above table, we can observe that out of 117 respondents, 39
(33.3%) respondents feel that iPhone provides better outlook and 34 (29.1%)
respondents feel that One+ gives better outlook out of five brands that is Samsung,
One+, iPhone, Xiaomi and Vivo. And 45 (38.5%) respondents feel that Xiaomi brand
gives reasonable price and 26 (22.2%) respondents feel Samsung provides reasonable
price. While 32 (27.4%) respondents and 28 (23.9%) respondents feel that iPhone ad
Vivo respectively has catchy advertisement. Whereas 49 (41.9%) respondents and 23
(19.6%) respondents prefer One+ and iPhone because it provides better feature. Out of
117 respondents, 40 (34.2%) respondents and 34 (29.1%) respondents chose Samsung
and Xiaomi respectively bacause of Peer/ Family usage satisfaction.While 32 (27.4%)
respondents and 29 (24.8%) respondents chose Samsung and iPhone due to some other
reason.

43
Graph 4.4: Reason of particular brand preference

Reason of particular brand preference

12
Others 19
29
25
32 Vivo
6
Peer/ Family usage 34
17
20 Xiaomi
40
5
Better 22
23 iPhone
49
18
28
Catchy 13 One +
32
25
19
13 samsung
Resonable 45
11
22
26
6
Better 11
39
34
27
0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Objective 3

Table 4.5: Factor influencing consumer buying behaviour

Brand Price Performa Quality Design Others
Rank

nce

F % F % F % F % F % F %

5 28 23.9 33 28.2 35 29.9 32 27.4 23 19.7 25 21.4

4 25 21.4 23 19.6 9 7.7 11 9.4 28 23.9 21 17.9

3 31 26.5 22 18.8 26 22.2 22 18.8 22 18.8 41 35

2 9 7.7 16 13.7 15 12.8 17 14.5 26 22.2 12 10.3

1 24 20.5 23 19.7 32 27.4 35 29.9 18 15.4 18 15.4

Where, F: Frequency

As per the table of total 117 frequency, we can say that the most important
influencing factor for consumer buying decision is Quality of the product with 35

44
(29.9%) respondents ranking it no. 1 while decision making. Whereas the least
importance is given to Performance as 35 (29.9%) respondents giving it Rank 5 while
making purchase decision. Out of 117 respondents, 24 (20.5%) respondents think that
Brand is the most influencing factor while making purchase decision. Also, 23 (19.7%)
respondents give first preference to Price by giving it Rank 1 and 18 (15.4%) give
preference to Design while making buying decision by ranking it no.1.

Graph 4.5: Factor influencing consumer buying behaviour

Factor influencing consumer buying behaviour

41

35 35
33
32 32
31
28 28
26 26
25 25
24
23 23 23
22 22 22
21
18 18
17
16
15
12
11
9 9

BRAND PRICE PERFORMANCE QUALITY DESIGN OTHERS

Rank 5 Rank 4 Rank 3 Rank 2 Rank 1

Objective 4

Table 4.6: Opinion of consumers if their preferred brand is not available

Frequency Percentage(%)
Postpone your purchase 64 54.7
Switch over to other brand 23 19.7
Go to the showroom of your brand 30 25.6
Total 117

45
 From the table, we can observe that 64 (54.7%) respondents will postpone
their purchase if the preferred brand is not available and 30 (25.6%) respondents will
go to the showroom of their brand to purchase the product. And only 23 (19.7%)
respondents will switch over to other brand.

Graph 4.6: Opinion of consumers if their preferred brand is not available

Opinion of consumers if their preferred brand is not available

54.7%

25.6%
19.7%

Go to the showroom of your

Postpone your purchase Switch over to other brand
brand
Frequency 64 23 30

Table 4.7: Qualification Details

Education level Frequency Percentage(%)

Under graduate 61 52.1

Graduate 37 31.6
Post Graduate 10 8.5
Professionals 6 5.1

Others 3 2.6

Total 117

From the above table, it can be seen that 61 (52.1%) respondents are
undergraduates and 37 (31.6%) respondents are graduates. While 10 (8.5%)
respondents are post graduates and 6 (8.5%) respondents are professionals. Whereas 3
(2.6%) respondents have some other qualification.

46
Graph 4.7: Qualification Details

52.10%

31.60%

8.50%
5.10%
2.60%

Under graduate Graduate Post Graduate Professionals Others

Table 4.8: Occupation-wise Analysis

Occupation Frequency Percentage(%)

Student 66 56.4
Self employed 13 11.1
Salaried 18 15.4
Professional 9 7.7
House wife 9 7.7
Others 2 1.7

Total 117

From this table, we can observe that 56.4% (66) respondents are students and
15.4% (18) respondents are salaried group. While 11.1% (13) respondents are self-
employed and 7.7% (9) respondents are professionals and housewives. Only 1.7% (2)
respondents are others like retired.

47
Graph 4.8: Occupation-wise Analysis

Occupation
7.70%
1.70%
Student

Self employed
7.70%
Salaried
15.40%
56.40% Professional

11.10% House wife

Others

Table 4.9: Annual income Analysis

Annual income Frequency Percentage(%)

below 100000 69 59

100000 – 200000 16 13.7

200000 – 500000 19 16.2

more than 500000 13 11.1

Total 117

Out of 117 respondents, 69 (59%) respondents have annual income below

Rs.100000 and 19 (16.2%) respondents have annual income between Rs.200000 to Rs.
500000. Whereas 16 (13.7%) respondents are having annual income Rs.100000 to Rs.
200000. While 13 (11.1%) respondents have annual income more than Rs. 500000.

48
Graph 4.9: Annual income Analysis

ANNUAL INCOME

11.10%
MORE THAN 500000

16.20%
200000 - 500000

13.70%
100000 - 200000

59%
BELOW 100000

Table 4.10: Mobile phones consumer having at present

Frequency Percentage(%)

Samsung 20 17.1
Xiaomi 39 33.3
One + 4 3.4
iPhone 13 11.1
Vivo 10 8.5
Others 31 26.5

Total 117

From the above table, it can be seen that out of 117 respondent there are 33.3%
(39) respondents are using Xiaomi whereas 26.5% (31) respondents are using other
mobile phone brand. While 17.1% (20) respondents are using Samsung mobile and
11.1% (13) respondents are using iPhone mobile phones. And only 8.5% (10)

49
respondents are using Vivo mobiles. However 3.4 % (4) respondents are using One+
mobile phone brand.

Graph 4.10: Mobile phones consumer having at present

Mobile phones consumer having at present

17.1% Samsung

26.50% Xiaomi

One +

iPhone

Vivo
8.50%
33.3% Others
11.10%

3.40%

Table 4.11: Motivation for selecting current mobile phone brand

Frequency Percentage(%)

Advertisement 13 11.1
Suggestions from friends and relatives 49 41.9
Attractive display 16 13.7
Brand Ambassador 4 3.4
Others 35 29.9
Total 117

From the above table, we can observe that out of 117 respondents, 49 (41.9%)
respondents are motivated by friends and family to prefer for the current brand.
Whereas 35 (29.9%) respondents are motived by others. While 16 (13.7%) respondents
are motivated by attractive display of mobile phone brand and 13 (11.1%) respondents
are motivated by advertisement of mobile phone brand. However 4 (3.4%) respondents
are motivated by the brand Ambassador.

50
Graph 4.11: Motivation for selecting current mobile phone brand

Motivation for selecting current mobile phone brand

45.00%
41.90%

40.00%

35.00%
29.90%
30.00%

25.00%

20.00%

15.00% 13.70%
11.10%
10.00%

5.00% 3.40%

0.00%
Advertisement Suggestions from Attractive display Brand Others
friends and Ambassador
relatives

Table 4.12: Price of purchased mobile phone

Frequency Percentage(%)

Below 10000 23 19.7

10000 – 20000 74 63.20

Above 20000 20 17.10

Total 117

51
Graph 4.12: Price of purchased mobile phone

Price of purchased mobile phone

63.20%

17.10% 17.10%

19.70%

Below 10000 10000 - 20000 Above 20000

From the above diagram, out of 117 respondents there are 74 (63.2%)
respondents whose mobile phone prices are in range of Rs.10000 to Rs. 20000. And 23
(19.7%) respondents’ price of phone is below Rs.10000 and only 20 (17.1%)
respondents’ mobile phone price is above Rs.20000.

Table 4.13: Preference of current brand over others

Frequency Percentage(%)

Better outlook 4 3.4

Better feature 74 63.2
Reasonable price 26 22.2

Catchy advertisement 1 0.9

Peers with the brand 6 5.1
Others 6 5.1

Total 117

52
 From the above table, we can observe that 63.2% (74) respondents preferred
for better feature, 22.2% (26) respondents preferred for reasonable price. And 5.1% (6)
respondents chose for peers with the brand and for some other reasons. And only 3.4%
(4) respondents and 0.9% (1) respondents preferred for better outlook and catchy
advertisement respectively.

Graph 4.13: Preference of current brand over others

Preference of current brand over others

70.00%
63.20%
60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%
22.20%
20.00%

10.00% 5.10% 5.10%

3.40% 0.90%
0.00%
Better outlook Better feature Reasonable Catchy Peers with the Others
price advertisement brand

Table 4.14: Time period of using current mobile phone

Frequency Percentage(%)

Less than 1 year 32 27.4

1 - 2 years 46 39.3
More than 2 years 39 33.3

Total 117

Out of 117 respondents, there are 39.3% (46) respondents who are using their
current mobile phone for 1-2 years and 33.3% (39) respondents are using their current
mobile phone for more than 2 years. And 27.4% (32) respondents are using their current
mobile phone for less than 1 year.

53
Graph 4.14: Time period of using current mobile phone

Time period of using current mobile phone

27.4%
33.3% Less than 1 year

1 - 2 years

More than 2 years

39.3%

Table 4.15: Frequency of changing mobile phone

Frequency Percentage

Less than 1 year 4 3.4

1 - 2 years 35 29.9

3 - 4 years 62 53

Above 4 years 16 13.7

Total 117

54
Graph 4.15: Frequency of changing mobile phone

FREQUENCY OF CHANGING MOBILE PHONE

53%

29.90%

13.70%
3.40%

Less than 1 year 1 - 2 years 3 - 4 years Above 4 years

From the above table, out of 117 respondents it can be seen that 62(53%)
respondents change their mobile phone in 3 to 4 years. And 35 (29.9%) respondents
and 16 (13.7%) respondents change their phone after 4 years or more than 4 years. Only
4(3.4%) respondents change their mobile phone in less than 1 year.

Table 4.16: Purpose of using mobile phone

Frequency Percentage(%)

Call 38 32.5
Songs and social media 34 29.1
Internet 33 28.2
Camera 8 6.8
Memory 4 3.4

Total 117

From the above table, we can observe that 38 (32.5%) respondents use their
mobile phone for calling purpose and 34 (29.1%) respondents use mobile phone for

55
listening songs and social media purpose. And out of 117 respondents, 33 (28.1%)
respondents use mobile phone for internet. However, only 8 (6.8%) respondents and 4
(3.4%) respondents use mobile phone mostly for camera and memory purpose
respectively.

Graph 4.16: Purpose of using mobile phone

Purpose of using mobile phone

32.5…

29.10%
28.20%

6.80%

3.40%

CALL SONGS AND SOCIAL INTERNET CAMERA MEMORY

MEDIA

Table 4.17: Importance of brand while purchasing a mobile phone

Frequency Percentage(%)

Fair 20 17.1

Important 44 37.6

Very important 50 42.7

Not important 3 2.6

Total 117

56
Graph 4.17: Importance of brand while purchasing a mobile phone

Importance of brand while purchasing a mobile

2.60% phone

17.10% Fair

Important

Very important
42.70%

Not important

37.60%

From the above diagram, it can be seen that out of 117 respondents, 42.7%
(50) respondents thinks that brand is very important while purchasing a mobile phone
and 37.6% (44) respondents agrees that brand is important while purchasing a mobile
phone. And 17.1% (20) respondents thinks that band is less important while purchasing
a mobile phone. Only 2.6% (3) respondents thinks that brand is not important while
purchasing a mobile phone.

Table 4.18: The Price Consumers are willing to pay for mobile phone

Frequency Percentage(%)

5000 – 10000 17 14.5

10000 – 20000 67 57.3

20000 – 30000 19 16.2

30000 – 40000 5 4.3

Above 40000 9 7.7

Total 117

57
 From the above table, out of 117 respondents there are 67 (57.3%) respondents
are willing to pay for mobile in the range of Rs.10000 – Rs.20000. Whereas 19 (16.2%)
respondents, 17 (14.5%) respondents and 9 (7.7%) respondents are willing to pay
Rs.20000 – Rs.30000, Rs.5000 – Rs.10000, above Rs.40000 respectively. And only 5
(4.3%) respondents are willing to pay for their choice of mobile Rs.30000 – Rs.40000.

Graph 4.18: The Price Consumers are willing to pay for mobile phone

The Price Consumers are willing to pay for

mobile phone

Above 40000 7.70%

30000 - 40000 4.30%

20000 - 30000 16.20%

10000 - 20000 57.30%

5000 - 10000 14.50%

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00% 70.00%

Table 4.19: Consumers’ attraction towards the promotional offer

Frequency Percentage(%)

Free gifts 8 6.8

Price offer 56 47.9
Discount 46 39.3
Any other 7 6

Total 117

58
 Out of 117 respondents it can be seen that 47.9% (56) respondents are
attracted by the price offer and 39.3% (46) respondents attracted by discount. However
6.8% (8) respondents get attracted most by free gifts and 6% (7) respondents are
attracted by other promotional offer.

Graph 4.19: Consumers’ attraction towards the promotional offer

Consumers’ attraction towards the promotional

offer
Any other Free gifts
6% 6.8%

Free gifts

Price offer
Discount
39.3% Price offer Discount
47.9%
Any other

Table 4.20: Preference to other brands over own brand for the same product

Frequency Percentage(%)

No. Not at all 28 23.9

No. I shall not 11 9.4

I may consider 48 41

Can't say 30 25.6

Total 117

From the above table, out of 117 respondents there are 41% respondents
who may buy another brand because of some reasons like urgency, etc.; and 25.6%

59
respondents are confused about their choice. However, 23.9% respondents do not prefer
any another brand at all and 9.4% respondents do not prefer the another product also.

Graph 4.20: Preference to other brands over own brand for the same product

Preference to other brands over own brand for the

same product

No. Not at all

25.6% 23.9%
No. I shall not

I may consider
9.4% Can't say

41%

4.2 Secondary Data Analysis

Table 4.21: Comparison of Sales of leading mobile phone Companies in Quarter
2 of two years in India (Shipment volume in millions of units)

Company 2018-Q2 Shipment 2017-Q2 Shipment Unit Change (2018-

Volumes Volumes Q2 over 2017-Q2)
Xiaomi 10.0 4.8 107.6%

Samsung 8.0 6.6 21.3%

Vivo 4.2 3.6 18.0%
OPPO 2.5 2.2 15.2%
Transsion 1.7 1.1 53.0%
Others 7.1 9.7 -26.8%
Source: IDC, 2018

From the above table we can observe that more units were sold in 2018 than
in the year 2017 in India. In India, Xiaomi was leading smartphone company with

60
growth of 107.6% in terms of number of units sold. And the second largest smartphone
company was Samsung with positive growth of 21.3%. Whereas Vivo, OPPO and
Transsion also has positive growth of 18.0%, 15.2% and 53.0% respectively. However
there were few other companies who has negative growth also.

Table 4.22: Comparison of Market Share of leading mobile phone Companies in

Quarter 3 of two years in India

2018-Q3 Market 2017-Q3 Market

Company Change (%)
Share Share

Xiaomi 27.3% 23.5% 16.17%

Samsung 22.6% 23.5% -3.83%

Vivo 10.5% 8.5% 23.53%

Micromax 6.9% 4.3% 60.46%

OPPO 6.7% 7.9% -15.19%

Others 26% 32.3% -19.50%

Source: IDC

From the above table, we can see that in terms of market share, here also the
Xiaomi is leading smartphone company in India. Xiaomi surpassed the Samsung in
Quarter-2 of year 2018 with 27.3%. And it has also shown a positive growth of 16,17%
in market share. Whereas Samsung’s market share fell to 22,6% in Q3 of 2018 from
23.5% in Q3 of 2017. It showed negative growth of 3.83% in market share. While there
were many companies who has positive growth in market share. Vivo has positive
growth in market share with 23.53%. And Micromax has made a surprise re-entry into
the top 5 position of the Indian smartphone market share and also has positive growth
of 60.46% in market share. Whereas OPPO’s market share fell to 6.7% in Q3 of 2018
as against 7.9% in Q3 of 2017. It means that there was a negative growth of 15.19% in
market share.

61
 Chapter no. 5: Conclusions and Suggestions

5.1 Findings
In this chapter, the researcher has provided the summary of the finding. The aim
of this study was to determine an impact of branding of mobile phones on consumer
buying behaviour with respect to a Western Suburb in Mumbai. The targeted population
was from the Bandra to Dahisar area only. And the findings are as follows:

• In the Q3 2018, Samsung was the top manufacturer of smartphones worldwide

in terms of market share with 20.3%.
• Xiaomi became the leading smartphone brand in India with 29.7% market share
in the second quarter of 2018.
• From the study, it can be seen that 54.7% respondents are ready to postpone
their purchase if the preferred brand is not available in market. In the contrary,
it is observed that 41% respondents prefer to change the brand and choose
another brand due to urgency.
• From the above study, out of 117 respondents there are 49 respondents who
prefer particular brand because if its better feature and brand which gives
reasonable price to its consumers.
• And the quality is most influencing factor for the consumer buying behaviour.
And out of 117 respondents, 24 (20.5%) respondents also think that brand is
also the most important influencing factor.
• From the study, researcher has observed that 30.8% respondents’ most preferred
brand is One+ and least favourite brand is Vivo.
• Since most of the respondents’ annual income belongs to below Rs.100000,
they own mobile phones in price range of Rs.10000 to Rs.20000 and also they
are willing to buy mobile in the range of Rs.10000 to Rs.20000. And most of
respondents own Xiaomi brand mobile phone as it gives reasonable price to its
consumers.

62
 • As per the study, researcher found that 32.5% respondents and 29.1%
respondents are using mobile phone for the calling and songs & social media
purpose respectively.
• From the above data, it can be seen that most of the respondents are
undergraduates that means they are students or self-employed. And therefore
they are motivated by their Family & Friends to prefer the current Mobile brand.
• The researcher also found that 47.9% respondents and 39.3% respondents are
attracted by price offer and discount respectively.

5.2 Conclusion
In this modern era, a Smartphone is just not only the want but also a need if you
know how to make proper use of it. Obviously, Smartphone have changed the ways that
we used to live, communicate and connect with people all over the world.

The craze for mobile services in India is increasing substantially. This study
reveals the consumer’s purchasing behaviour towards mobile phones. Most of the
consumers having one mobile phone and also android operating system is most popular
among the mobile phone users.

The study shows that Samsung was the top manufacturer of smartphones
worldwide in 2018 where as Xiaomi became the leading smartphone brand in India in
2018 because of its better feature and reasonable price. However, One+ is also one of
the most preferred brands of Smartphones as per this study.

Consumer has become more conscious and aware about the mobile phone. So,
most of the consumers are satisfied with their current mobile phone brand. Brand name
becomes a big deal while purchasing the mobile phones. According to the study, 54.7%
of the respondents said that they are willing to postpone the buying decision if their
preferred brand is not available in the market.

Also, the research shows that Quality is the most influencing factor while
purchasing the mobile phone. The majority respondents are undergraduates i.e.,
students and therefore Family and Friends have played important role in their life for
setting up an image of a particular smartphone brand. Also, Consumers now-a-days get

63
attracted towards various promotional offers such as discounts, free gifts, etc. which
plays important role in decision making to buy a particular brand of mobile phone.

5.3 Suggestions
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:

• Manufacturers should consider the quality, user-friendliness, better features and

reasonable pricing of the mobile phones they produce, since these product
attributes are shown by the results of this study to exert the greatest influences
on brand preferences.

• Marketers should be aware of the forms of socialisation active in targeting

certain population groups, since target markets possess different socialisation
groups, such as the student respondents for this study, who were influenced
mostly by friends and peers. Marketers should, when targeting such groups,
employ people with whom consumers can relate in terms of age.

• Companies should also launch more smartphone with standard quality for lower
classes as this will help company to reach more consumer as lower classes
population in country are high. This will be beneficial for companies and for the
people.

64
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Appendix 1

Structured questionnaire for consumers

1. Gender

Female

Male

2. Age

Below 20 years

20 – 30 years

30 – 40 years

Above 40 years

3. Educational level

Under graduate

Graduate

Post Graduate

Professionals

Others

4. Occupation

Student

Self employed

Salaried

Professional

House wife

Others

5. Annual Income

69
 Less than Rs.100000

Rs.100000 – Rs.200000

Rs.200000 – Rs.500000

More than Rs.500000

6. Which mobile phone are you currently using?

Samsung

Xiaomi

One+

iPhone

Vivo

Others

7. What motivated you to prefer the above mobile brand?

Advertisement

Suggestions from friends and relatives

Attractive display

Brand Ambassador

Others

8. Which is your favourite brand in mobile?

One+

Vivo

Xiaomi

iPhone

Samsung

Others

70
9. In what price range does your mobile phone fall?

Below Rs.10000

Rs.10000 – Rs.20000

Above Rs.20000

10. Why did you choose your brand over others?

Better outlook

Better feature

Reasonable price

Catchy advertisement

Peers with the brand

Others

11. For how long have you been using your mobile phone?

Less than 1 year

1 – 2 years

More than 2 years

12. How often you change your mobile phone?

Less than 1 years

1 – 2 years

3 – 4 years

Above 4 years

13. For what purpose do you use your mobile phone mostly?

Call

Songs and social media

Internet

71
 Camera

Memory

14. How important do you think a brand is when you purchase a smartphone?

Fair

Important

Very important

Not important

15. While purchasing a smartphone what are the important factor that help you in
deciding
( Low to high- Rank 5 to Rank 1)

Rank 5 Rank 4 Rank 3 Rank 2 Rank 1

Brand

Price

Performance

Quality

Design

Others

16. How much are you willing to pay for a smartphone of your choice?

Rs.5000 – Rs.10000

Rs.10000 – Rs.20000

Rs.20000 – Rs.30000

Rs.30000 – Rs.40000

Above Rs. 40000

17. What is the reason behind choosing a particular brand?

72
 Samsung One+ iPhone Xiaomi Vivo

Better outlook

Reasonable price

Catchy advertisement

Better feature

Peer / Family usage

satisfaction

Others

18. Which promotional offer attracts you most?

Free gifts

Price offer

Discount

Any other

19. If your preferred brand is not available for purchase then what will you do?

Postpone your purchase

Switch over to other brand

Go to the showroom of your brand

20. If another brand of the same product appears in the market will you prefer to
stop buying your mobile brand and buy the new brand?

No. Not at all

No. I shall not

I may consider

Can’t say

73