A Study on Impact of Marketing Strategies of

Smartphone users with reference to Mumbaikar

A Project submitted to University of Mumbai for partial completion of

the degree of master in Commerce Under the Faculty of Commerce

By

Mr. Varun Gopal Yewale

Roll No. 174
Under the guidance of
Dr. Kanchan S Fulmali

M.L.Dahanukar College of Commerce,

Dixit Road, Vile Parle (East) Mumbai-57

January-2021

1
 Parle Tilak Vidyalaya Association’s
M. L. DAHANUKAR COLLEGE OF COMMERCE
(Affiliated to University of Mumbai)
Accredited with ‘B+’ Grade by NAAC

Dixit Road, VileParle(East), Tel: 2617 9580 (DegreeCollege)

Mumbai-400057 26136748 (S.F.C.)
E-mail:mldc@rediffmail.com 26183614 (Jr.College)
Website:www.mldcc.com : mldcc App

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the Project Report Titled

“A Study on Impact of Marketing Strategies of Smartphone user with reference to

Mumbaikar ” is prepared by /Mr. Varun Gopal Yewale. Student of Master of
Commerce Degree Part II /Semester III of University of Mumbai conducted by our college.

Important sources used in this have been duly acknowledged in this report. The report is
submitted in partial fulfillment of the Master of Commerce ( Management) degree curriculum as per
the rules of the University of Mumbai.

Mr. Samrat Gangurde Dr. D.M. Doke

(Co-ordinator) (Principal)

InternalExaminer External Examiner

College seal

2
 Declaration
I the undersigned Mr. Varun Gopal Yewale here by, declare that the work embodied
in this project work titled “A Study on Impact of Marketing Strategies of
Smartphone users with reference to Mumbaikar” from my own contribution to the
research work carrier out under the guidance of Dr. Kanchan Fulmali. is a result of
my own research work and has not been previously submitted to any other University
for any other Degree/Diploma to this or any other University.

Wherever reference has been made to previous works of others, it has been clearly
indicated as such and included in the bibliography.

I, here by gutter declare that all the information of this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct.

Name and signature of the leaner

Certified by

Name and signature of the Guiding Teacher

3
 ACKNOWLEDGMENT

To list who have helped me is difficult because they are so numerous and the
depth is so enormous.
I would like to acknowledge the following as being idealistic channels and
fresh dimensions in the completion of this project.
I take this opportunity to thank the University of Mumbai for giving me the
chance to do this project.
I would like to thank my in Principal, Dr. D. M. DOKE for providing the
necessary facilities required for completion of this project.
I take this opportunity to thank our Coordinator Mr.Samrat Gangurde for his
moral support and guidance.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude towards my project guide
Dr. Kanchan Fulmali whose guidance and care made the project successful.
I would like to thank my College Library for having provided various
reference books and magazines related to my project.
Lastly, I would like to thank each and every person who directly and indirectly
helped me in the completion of the project especially my Parents and Peers
who supported me throughout my project.

4
 Index

Table of contents

Chapter 1- Introduction:-

Chapte 1 INTODUCTION:- ................................................................................................... 6

1.1) Introduction to impact of brand loyalty on consumers of smart phone users:- ............... 6
1.2:Strategies used by mobile phone companies to maintain customer loyalty:-................... 8
13: Importance of the study:- .................................................................................................. 9
1.4: Factors that affect customer loyalty among smartphone users:- ................................... 10
1.5 Attitude / Behavior based loyalty types:- ....................................................................... 14
1.6 Brand loyalty effects:-..................................................................................................... 15
Chapter 2 Research Methodology ......................................................................................... 21
2.1:Hypothesis of the study:- ................................................................................................ 24
Problem statement:- .............................................................................................................. 24
Scope of research:- ................................................................................................................ 25
Limitations of the study:- ...................................................................................................... 25
Chapter 3: Review of literature:- .......................................................................................... 26
History of mobile phones: ..................................................................................................... 27
SWOT analysis of android: ................................................................................................... 31
chapter 4: Topic Related Information
Chapter 5: Data analysis, Interpretation and Presentation:- ................................................. 43
Findings: ................................................................................................................................ 56
Chapter 6: Suggestions:- ....................................................................................................... 58
Conclusion:- .......................................................................................................................... 60
Chapter7: Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 62
Chapter 8:-Annexure ............................................................................................................. 63

5
 Chapte 1
INTODUCTION:-
1.1) Introduction to impact of brand loyalty on consumers of smart phone users:-

Along with the development of smartphone, consumers are been used as a focal point to reveal the hidden
needs of them. With the growth and competition of the smartphone industry, developing a better
understanding of what drives customer loyalty to smartphone brands has become an important issues for
many smart phone brands. The smart phone market has been growing rapidly in several countries as this
industry becomes important market in all the country around the world. The use of smartphone has
achieved high demand as it helps us in doing our important activities. It can also boost on profit of a
business by helping the marketer or the seller to market their product in any type of media such as
application that are present in a smartphone itself. Mobile phone is smart communication media. Brand
loyalty is a scenario where the consumer fears purchasing and consuming product from another brand
which he does not trust. It is measure through methods like word of mouth publicity, repetitive buying,
price sensitivity, commitment, brand trust, customer satisfaction, etc. Customers perceived value, brand
trust, customer satisfaction, repeat purchase behaviour, and commitment are found to be key factors
impacting loyalty of smartphone users. In the recent past, consumers needed phones that would facilitate
their daily activities in all aspects. With the smartphones consumers meet both utilitarian (such as making
a call) and hedonic needs (such as playing game). Smart phone has moved the data processing power in
the hands of the mobile phone users, who can use the mobile phone irrespective of time and space
availability. Smartphones contains functions such as instant messaging, downloading applications, and use
of information services such as WIFI and global positioning system, it provides entertainment, almost all
these facilities are available in all smart phone so maintaining customer loyalty has become a challenging
job for smartphone brands. The study investigates the consumer perception in buying decisions on
branded mobile. Besides the activities that can be performed with routine phones, consumers have started
to do computer . Satisfying needs and desires of consumers leads to maintaining strong relationship
between the brand and the consumers.Therefore, it can be concluded that satisfaction directly affects
brand loyalty. With the advent of smartphone brands, customers purchasing smartphones have sharply
increased over years. Since the smartphone market extend, the major brands are getting more competitive.
Each brand manufactures are dedicating in developing a strong operating system, software applications,
fashionable appearance, service quality, and so on.

6
The purpose of the study is to explore the purchasing behaviour, determinants of purchasing decision, and
factors of loyalty of smartphone users. Smartphone is a highly involvement product that consumer decide
which smartphone purchase will give them greater benefit. Therefore, competitiveness in the smartphone
markets has rapidly increased in order to gain consumers for brands. In this competitive global world, it
has become important to establish brand loyalty for companies. Brand have gained strategy advantage
within this competitive market by branding their product and establishing relationship with consumers.
Smartphones brands have already understood the importance of brand loyalty. Greater loyalty leads to less
marketing expenditure because the customers promote he brand positively. Also, acts as a means of
launching and introducing more products that are targeted at same customers at less expenditure. It also
restrains new competitors in the market. The need to understand the emerging markets and consumers has
become a big challenge for the corporate world especially in creating and managing a powerful brand
loyalty. Purchase decision basically involves many steps which consumers are not even aware of. Five
steps are involved in nearly every purchase made; need recognition, information search, evaluation of
alternatives, purchase decision, post purchase decision. The consumers goes through all this steps even
before purchasing a simplest product. Similarly, before purchasing a mobile phone consumers goes
through all these steps and the satisfaction level of the mobile phone leads him to repeat purchase of the
same brand in future which ultimately leads to brand loyalty. Brand loyalty are further influence by things
such as personal, psychological and social issues. In order to gain long term profitability, it is necessary to
create and maintain loyal customers, but it is difficult to do in competitive environment. Brand loyalty is
the repeat purchase of a customer that reflects his or her conscious decision to continuously purchase and
show a positive attitude toward brand to buy that product in future. Brand loyalty is not about repeat
purchase it is basically psychological commitment towards a product. Consumers are basically to those
brands on which they have trust. Consumer loyalty is of outmost importance for a brands survival and long
term growth particular for brands of information and communication technology products such as
smartphones. There are various mobile phone brands which are prevailing in the market. Some of them are
Apple, Samsung, LG, Motorola, Xiaomi, HTC, One Plus, Vivo, and many more.Basically consumers of
the high income level purchase smartphones for the prestige purpose in order to maintain their status in the
work field. They usually go for high priced mobile as they are in a good position of earning money. They
either go with Apple or One Plus mobile and they are loyal to their brands. They are basically loyal to their
brands and are not influenced by other factors such as promotional factors, low pricing etc. they are
basically the more loyal customers the brand can have. Even Samsung have many loyal customers who
Not in postion to awitch their brand

7
On the other hand there are customers of mobile phone brands such as Vivo, Xiaomi, Motorola, who are
always influenced by various factors. They are always in a hurry to try out new products prevailing in a
market. They are not loyal to any brands of mobile phones. There are various factors which impact the
loyalty of the consumer such as his own satisfaction level, friends and family, availability information,
various online sites which provides the product at low cost compared to the local markets, reviews of the
products available, celebrity endorsement also affects the brand loyalty of the consumers while purchasing
any mobile phone brand as there are many consumers who are highly impacted by their favourite celebrity
endorsing it etc. Today consumers goes through all these things before purchasing any product even if he
is personally happy with a particular brand of mobile phone he may get influenced by any of these factor
when he goes for repeat purchase. To maintain such a loyalty among the brands many mobile phone
companies have started with offers such as discounts, providing tempered glass free or personalized
mobile phone. Each and every Smartphone brand has to keep all these factors in mind in order to gain
loyalty among the consumers.

: Strategies used by mobile phone companies to maintain customer

loyalty:-

Strategies is a high level of plan to achieve one or more goals under conditions of uncertainty. Strategy is
important because the resources available to achieve these goals are usually limited.

a. Defining strategy

Strategy is often defining as contingent plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. Porter states
“strategy is the creation of unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities.

The word creation of the particular way in which the firm competes. Moreover, the resulting activity system
that is “created” is a reflection of the firm‟s strategy. Strategy proper, however, is not the activity system
itself but the creation of the activity system.

b. There are six steps which can follow to determine mobile strategy:

1. Start with a clear strategy: Define Mobile‟s purpose within your organization and also to the
customers so that they can remain loyal to your brand

8
 2. Select the right mobile environment: understand the benefits of the mobile sites versus mobile
applications and make customers aware of all those benefits your mobile phone brand provides.
3. Prioritize devices: Study usage patterns to drive platform support and to gain loyalty of your
customer.
4. Decide whether to own or outsource technology: Research approaches for building your offering.
5. Determine what technology you can repurpose: Identify web technologies to leverage in mobile.
6. Align your technology with short- and long- term goals: Build a tiered roadmap to support your
strategy, once a mobile phone brand is clear with their goals they are in a position to gain more
customers and their loyalty.

To remain competitive, you will need to have a long-term mobile strategy and iterate often. For the
greatest chance for success in the mobile channel, root your strategy in technology aligned with your
mobile goals, the usage patterns of your targeted audience, and your budget. Build a phased mobile
road map, and leverage as much as possible of your existing technology to get projects moving,
maximize budget, and extend a consistent experience into the mobile channel. Businesses that make
brand loyalty a central part of their strategy will benefit from the benefit from the opportunity to
engage the new constantly, connected consumer. Extending advertising strategies to include mobile
and developing integrated cross- media campaigns can more effectively reach today‟s consumers.

13: Importance of the study:-

The importance of brand loyalty cannot be denied for the creation and growth of strong brands. The smart
phone companies are now spending millions and billions of amounts on their advertising campaigns. The
more the number of competitors in the market the more the smartphone brands are trying to get the loyal
customer base. Brand loyalty is all about the human psychology. Brand loyalty actually starts from the
consumers and ends on the customers. This study aims to analyse the brand loyalty of the smartphone
consumers. This study will hopefully help the consumers who are facing the dilemma or confused about
how to make a decision to choose which brand of smartphone they should buy. This decision may be
influenced by many internal or external elements. Moreover, it makes the consumers understand what
processes and factors ultimately affect their decisions. This study may be critical important in laying the
groundwork for those who want to delve deeper of these issues. Through this study, it provided enough
observation to identify problems, analyse various factors, and solution for consumers and manufactures.

9
 1.4: Factors that affect customer loyalty among smartphone users:-

There‟s no question that the product itself has to be competitive, price right and deliver superior value. But,
beyond the product itself, several factors can make the difference in, a much sought after, loyal customer.
Here‟s our top 7.

1) Convenience: - When buying any product the first thing which comes in customers mind is
convenience. There are various ways through which consumers can purchase mobile phone by visiting
shops or through online sites. In this busy world, consumers usually purchase mobile phones from
either any electronics shop which is in their locality or mostly from online stores and if the brand they
are looking for is not available they are more likely to switch their mobile phone brand.

2) Expectations: - Your smartphone brand must continue to live up to their customer‟s

expectations in every way that is possible. It not only has to continue to deliver on its brand promise
and remain relevant, but its price, value, and availability must continue to be dependable.

3) Customer service: - The loyalty of the customers gets largely influence by this factor. The way
smartphone companies brand stands behind its products can be as valuable as the product itself. A
good warranty and swift resolution of issues keep customers, who may have had a disappointing
experience, buying the smartphone.

4) Personal relationships: - The way customers are treated by the third parties such as
salesperson, store clerks, of the smartphone brand representatives can make or break customer loyalty.
Many don‟t buy product so much as they “buy” the person who sold it to them.

5) Rewards: - Customers want some consideration for continuing to do business with the brand,
especially when they have other options. Offering savings, bonuses, and other forms of special attention
to your loyal customers can not only keep them from going elsewhere but may be the reason they
recommend you to their friends.

10
 .
6) Community reach: - When the smart phone brand stand for something beyond their product, when
they support the causes important to their customers, and when the customer participate in their
community, you build a bond of loyalty that is hard to break. This gives the customers a social reason to
become and remain loyal to your brand.

7) Reputations: - How your product plays in the media, both commercial and social, can influence long term
relationships. Your companies financial, labour, and sourcing practices are now subject to the scrutiny of an
increasingly transparent world where consumers realize that they vote with their purchases. Reputation of
any mobile phone brand directly affects its loyalty that their customers have

Customer loyalty is a choice every consumer makes daily. The good news is that most customers don’t
want to shop. It’s time-consuming and fraught with anxiety. It’s so much easier and much more
comfortable to just stay loyal with a brand they know and trust.

Dimensions of brand loyalty:-

There are three core dimensions of loyalty:

 Attitude – consumer‟s attitudes toward the brand in general or attitudes towards the
suggestion of switching brands.
 Behaviour – consumer‟s tendency to buy the brand over others.

 Price sensitivity – consumer‟s tendency to be prepared to pay more for the brand they are loyal
to.In the early stages of a market, brands will advertise to create differentiation and inspire loyalty and
therefore be able to charge a price premium. Here, behavioural measures will show us how much loyalty is
actually present in the market for our brand and sensitivity measures can help us ascertain how far prices
can be stretched. Once a brand are differentiated in a more mature market, attitudinal measures become
more important – to be able to protect acquired share of the market

11
Approaches to brand loyalty:-
A success brand strategy must be based on creating brand loyalty. For achieving this goal, consumers must
be classified on a loyalty basis and then the marketing mix must be shaped according to this classification
a first approach of classifying their degree of loyalty is that to whom buyers can be divided into four
groups: hard core loyal (always buy the same brand), split loyal (loyal to two or three brands), shifting
loyal (loyal to one brand for a period of time, but easily shifting from one brand to another, due to certain
advantages offered by the new brand), and the switchers ( show no loyalty to any brand, switching the
brand with almost any buying situation). Each market consists of a different number of these four types of
buyers. A brand- loyal market has a high percentage of hard-core loyal customers. In such a markets,
entering or increasing market share is very difficult tasks. Still, brand loyalty must be carefully interpreted
as it may actually reflect habit, indifference, a low price, a high switching cost, or the non- availability of
other brands.

A second approach is that which sees five levels of brand loyalty and group‟s customers accordingly into a
loyalty pyramid.
a) The first level represents non loyal buyers who are completely indifferent to brands, each
brand being perceived to be adequate if the price is accepted.

b) The second level includes satisfied or at least not dissatisfied buyers with no dimension of
dissatisfaction sufficient enough to stimulate a change, especially if that change involves effort.
These customers can be vulnerable to competitors that can create a perceived benefit in the case
of switching.

c) The third level consists of satisfied customers with switching costs (loss of time, money, or
acquired loyalty advantages, performance risks associated with switching etc.)

d) Variety- seekers switch brands for the sake of variety rather than dissatisfaction. These
consumers have some beliefs about brands, choose brands with little evaluation, and mostly
evaluate them during consumption. In the case of these buyers, marketers could offer lower
prices coupons, free samples and the like but should constantly try to reconfigure the brand‟s
features so as to offer something new and the like.

e) The fifth level represents committed customers, proud to have discovered and used the brand,
and whom the brand is very important both functionally as an expression of their personality.
The value of this category of customers stays in the impact they have upon others through their
recommendations.
12
Involvement / Perceived differences based loyalty:-
Types

Considering the level of involvement and that of perceived differences between brands, there are four types
of consumer loyalty:-

 Complex loyal: - firstly do research, then develop beliefs and attitudes about the brand, and
finally make a thoughtful choice. Marketers should educate these consumers about the brand‟s
attributes, differentiate and describe the brand‟s features, and motivate sales people to influence
the brand choice.

 Dissonance loyal: - Shop around and buy fairly quickly, as they may consider most brands in a
given price range to be the same, even though expensive and self-expressive. After buying, they
experience dissonance noticing certain disquieting features or hearing favorable things about
other brands, but seek information that supports their choice. In the case of these consumers,
marketers should supply evaluations that help them feel good about their brand choices.

 Habitual loyal: - Make decisions based on brand familiarity. They keep buying the same
brand out of habit as they are passive recipients of information conveyed by advertising. In
the case of these consumers, marketers should try to dominate shelf spaces, keep shelves
stocked, and run frequent reminder ads.

 Variety- seekers: - switch brands for the variety rather than dissatisfaction. These consumers
have some beliefs about brands, choose brands with little evaluation, and mostly evaluate them
during consumption. In the case of these buyers, marketers could offer lower prices, coupons,
free samples and whatever the can but should constantly try to reconfigure the brand‟s features so
as to offer something new and innovative.

13
 Attitude / Behavior based loyalty types:-

Brand loyalty has also been conceptualized as an interaction as an interaction of attitude and behaviour.

Dick argue that loyalty is determined by the strength of the relationship between relative attitude and
repeat patronage. On the basis if attitude- Behavior relationship, they purpose four types of brand loyalty.
The “spurious loyalty:” and “no loyalty” categories occur under low relative attitude and might be
indicative of a recent introduction and / or an inability to communicate distinct advantages, or may be due
to the dynamics of a specific market, where most competing brands are seen as similar, and it may be
difficult to create a high relative attitude.

Dick category of no loyalty is seen to relate to customers whose patronage and relative attitudes are low,
but not necessarily negative, meaning that this category includes customers who make
infrequent purchases or potential customers. Non- loyal may exhibit this trait as they have no particular
interest in the brand, have a negative orientation towards a brand or have a positive orientation towards a
competing brand. The non-loyal consumers be differentiated on the basis of: repeat patronage or intent to
continue shopping, and relative attitude as demonstrated through recommendations made to others, from
inertial associated with Behaviour and attitude which is relatively passive, and not likely to influence
others and which may or may not lead to purchase) to negative (concerned with strong negative attitudes,
or behaviors which seek to undermine a brand)

 Disengaged loyal are neutral and uninterested. They have never been customers because they have no
awareness, they have no awareness, the product is not relevant to them or the product is not within
their perception of affordability. Yet, these circumstances may change and they may have potential
for being customers in the future. Disengaged loyal need to be re-engaged with the brand. Marketing
communications that are likely to be successful focus on promotions which encourage these
customers to sample the product again may be important.

 Disturbed loyal are existing and continuing customers, who are suffering a temporary perturbation
in their loyalty status, and are in the state of questioning previously assumptions about a brand,
because they had a negative experience with the brand, or have an unfavorable comparison with
other brands, or were exposed to promotion of competitive brands, which temp them to try
alternatives. These customers could be encouraged or enticed to consider re-commitment to the
brand, provided they are assisted to see past their negative experience.
14
  Disenchanted loyal are customers who used to be loyal, but who have become less so. Their
Behaviour is such that they do not at present purchase the brand and are unlikely to do so in the
future. Their attitude has ceased to be positive towards the brand, but often remains neutral, rather
than negative due to previous positive experience with the brand. Disenchanted arises because of
negative experience with the brand, a positive experience with a competitor, or changes in the
match between customer‟s requirements and the product range associated with the brand.
Disenchanted customers are susceptible to strategies similar to those use for disturbed loyal, with the
difference that the opportunity for addressing specific incidents has passed.

 Disruptive loyal are previous customers, who have strong negative attitudes and behaviors in
respect of the brand. They maintain negative views on the brand and are likely to communicate
these to others, possibility vociferously. Disruptive customers are not likely to be converted into
loyal customers again. The focus must be on negating the effect of any negative aspect on brand
image that these customers can achieve, either in the media, through pressure groups, or by word
of mouth. In order to be successful in this endeavor, a business needs to understand where any
earlier major weakness or flaws in product

Brand loyalty effects:-

Traditionally, among the advantages of a high degree of brand loyalty, the branding literature includes
the ability to apply premium pricing policies, the greater negotiation power in relation to distribution
channels, the reduced selling costs, the high barriers to potential new entries into the product category,
and the increased success potential of brand extensions to related product categories. Customers can
manifest their loyalty to a brand in several ways: they may choose to stay with a provider, and they may
increase the number of purchases or the frequency of their purchases or even both, thus generating
higher revenues for the brand they may also become advocates of the brand, concerned by playing a
powerful role in the decision making of others, thus reducing the brand‟s marketing communication
costs.

It is well known that it is much more expensive to gain new customers that to retain existing ones,
especially when the existing customer base is satisfied and loyal. Even if there are very low switching
costs and low customer brand commitment, there is a substantial inertia among customers. Still, brand
loyalty must not be confounded to brand inertia.

15
According to bloomer and Kasper, brand loyalty implies a deep-seated commitment to brands and there is a
sharp distinction between repeat purchases and the actual brand loyalty. They assert that repeat purchase
Behaviour is the actual re-buying of a brand whereas loyalty includes antecedents or a reason or fact
occurring before, the Behaviour. They further delineate brand loyalty into “spurious” and “true” loyalty.
Spurious loyalty represents biased behavioral response expressed over time by some decision-making unit,
with respect to one or more alternate brands, as a function of inertia. True brand loyalty includes the above,
but replaces inertia with a psychological process resulting in brand commitment.

The loyal customers are less price sensitive and the expense if pursuing new customers is reduced, while
organizational profitability is positively affected by the level of brand loyalty. Brand loyalty can enhance
marginal cash flow and profitability, as loyal customers often accept to pay a price premium for their
favorite brands, are easily stimulated to new usage situations and tend to increase intensively and
extensively their spending on the brand (Davis, 2002).

The marketing communication spending is also reduced as loyal customers are already confident in the
purchase decision and process information rapidly, instruments like sales promotions or advertising being
less intensive needed in this case in comparison to brands with low loyalty degree. Loyalty also enhances
the process of attracting new customers. Satisfied and loyal clients tend to provide brand exposure and
reassurance to new customers, through “mouth to mouth”communication. On the other hand, a potential
customers has a better evaluation of a brand is perceived as having a loyal customer base.

Types of mobile phones:-

Cell phones have evolved rapidly as their use has increased. Electronics companies are in the tight race to
produce affordable, and trend-setting phones due to which many types of cell phones are being created.
Most of them fall into three categories: cell phone, feature phones, and Smartphone.

Cell phones:-
The classical phones only used for the purpose of making calls, texts, and little less. These phones have
less advanced feature and they generally focus on the ease of use. They come in variety of different form
factors and designs, allowing the user to have plenty of options. These phones are often cheap.

Feature phones:-
They compromise the features of the smartphones and the conventional phones. They have limited
properties of OS. A feature phone focuses on texting, multimedia, a full web browser and GPS. A less
expensive feature phone is great alternative to a smartphon

16
Smartphones:-

Smartphones have become the standard option for most consumers. With an advance operating system
(OS), GPS, 4G internet speeds, a smartphone is closer to a computer then a cell phone. They‟ve advanced
far beyond simply making calls. Modern smartphones feature a highly responsive touch-screen, WI-FI
connectivity, HD cameras and data streaming. Smartphones allow users to perform tasks previously
reserved for a desktop or laptop: edit documents, use social media, handle email and create spreadsheets.
Smartphones are separated by their OS. The four most popular OS‟s are Apple‟s iOS, Android,
BlackBerry and Windows Phone. Each OS attracts different users based on their needs and levels of
technical experience.

Advantages of mobile phone:-

a) Connected to world:

You are always connected to your family and friends with the help of mobile. Cell phone technology gives
connectivity to everybody in the world. When you are millions of distances far from the whole world.

a) Business:

Millions of people are connected with the business of telephones. Day by day job opportunities are being
created for youngsters.

a) Student’s application:

There is a lot of learning applications for students in the app store. With the help of these apps students can
learn and get the applications according their subjects.

b) Entertainment:

Today‟s children are very fond of cartoons, games and other entertaining material. You tube is a budding
app and so are other social media apps.

17
 c) Location :

GPS technology allows you to get information of your location. You can easily know your location with
the help of GPS while travelling and lets you share your location too.

d) Fashion point :

In‟s today world mobile phones are the statements of fashion. Without a good quality phone, you won‟t
feel comfortable with peers.

e) Alarm notes & Reminder:

Alarm is a built-in-app, so that you are never late for any event. You can also add notes and reminders in
your mobile phone for important tasks.

a) Utilities:

All the features are now available in one device. It has easy accessibility. Calendar is one of those
features. Camera allows you to capture thousands of images and create videos. A built-in calculator is
available. Smartphones even have a built-in torch.

b) Data Transfer:

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

18
 Disadvantages of Mobile phone:

a) Distance from relatives:

Use of mobile every time keeps one away from friends, family, and other relatives.

a) Waste of time:

Time is money and money is time. Many social media sites act as a major distraction. Instead, you can
use it for a good purpose or not use it at all.

b) Waste of energy:

It is another biggest factor that affects human health. It is a cause of waste of energy, during use of cell all
the parts of human body are spending energy on it, like; eyes, hands, and mind etc.

c) Cause of direction:

Mobile phone can be cause of skin diseases especially hand skin, cancer and eye problems etc. And a
lot of other diseases can affect the body by its high usage.

d) Study laws:

Another biggest disadvantages for students are they have very high loss of their studies. Because of
extensive use of mobile phones which result in bad results.

19
 e) Loss of human life:

It may be a cause of your death, some people use it during driving, which may cause an accident. Or using
in airplane can dismiss the wireless system and that they may cause of plane crash.

f) Stolen data:

If you have your personal images, videos or files etc. in your device. Other peoples can easily steal your
images and videos. In an android mobile phone, it is easy to copy data from one device to another but an
IOS operating system has a little safety.

g) Loss of money:

As technology developed new and touch mobile phones have been launched into market, which are very
expensive, and people spend money on these sets which is a loss of money.

20
 Chapter 2 Research
Methodology:-

Research Design:-

Research design is a logical and systematic outline of research project for direction, guiding, and
controlling research work. It is like a road map to research project. It is a broad outline of research.
Forming a research design is like preparing a master plan/ blueprint for the collection and measurement
and analysis of data.

Research design facilitates orderly execution of research project. It acts as a reference document for
execution of research project. It is a plan, strategy and structure. It helps to derive meaningful conclusions.

The type of research design followed in this research is „descriptive research design‟. It is undertaken when
a researcher design to know the characteristics of a certain group. They are factual and simple in nature.
Descriptive research designs are well structured.

This research is cross sectional study as sample of respondents are asked questions only once and interested
population is taken into consideration.

Nature of research:-

This research type which followed in this particular research is “descriptive research”. As it not only
helps to understand the demographic information of sample of respondents but also the view of them
towards the problem. It is very specific and factual. It has a scientific outlook. It identifies and obtains
the information on the characteristics of the problem.

21
 Data Collection Method-

Data can be collected in two ways. In this research, the data is collected in two ways:-

Primary data:-

Primary data constitutes 1st hand information which is collected for the first time in order to solve the
research problem. These are the original sources. It gives us reliable information for research purpose.
It‟s a time consuming process.

In this research, the method used for research was “Survey method” and the instrument used for the
survey method is „Questionnaire‟. Questionnaire is a comprehensive list of question to be asked to
respondents, for specific information to be collected. Researcher asks questions to respondents as per the
questionnaire and notes down the answers supplied by the respondents.

The types of questions used in the questionnaire for the research are:

1) Multiple choice questions

2) Dichotomous questions

Secondary data:-

Secondary data is from recorded and published sources. This data is easier to collect, quick and
commercial. This data is not new. Secondary data is supportive in character and used only after testing
its accuracy.

There are various types of secondary data such as published printed source, government records,
published- electronic, unpublished personal records.

For this research, secondary data from various websites, articles, blog were used for collecting
secondary data.

22
 Sample-

Sample means a small portion of the population taken up for intensive study purpose. Sample acts as
the representative of the whole universe. Sample of respondents for this research are 70 which were
selected randomly.

Sample design

A sample design is a finite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. There are two
types of sample design used while doing this research:

a) Simple random sampling method

In simple random sampling method, the complete list of the universe is taken but the selection is
made at random from the list. This method is free from human bias. Random selection means not
haphazard selection. Here, the universe has an equal chance of being selected.

Convenience sampling method

In convenience sampling, the convenience of the researcher is given importance while selecting the
sample. Sample is selected as per the convenience of the researcher. Human bias is likely to occur. Here,
the population does not get an equal chance of being selected.

Universe –

Maharashtra state- Mumbai

Sample size- 60 respondents

23
 Objective of the study:-

The study was proposed with the following objective:

1. Factors that influence decision- making in purchasing a mobile phone.

2. To study the origin and growth of mobile phone industry.

3. To study the awareness and attitude of consumers towards mobile phone.

4. To study the various factors of brand loyalty among smartphone users.

5. To study the switching Behaviour of other brands among smartphone users.

6. To study the satisfaction level of smartphone users.

7. To suggest various measures to improve the brand loyalty and satisfaction on mobile phones.

The general objective of the study is to determine and evaluate the key factor which influence customer
loyalty toward the brand and to find the contribution of different factors that to what extent they impact
the brand loyalty and affects customers decision making while choosing the brand. Through this study,
we also verify the developed hypothesis that reflect the current situation. This study will be helpful for
brands to innovate and transform their products according to customers need.

Hypothesis of the study:-

On the basis of above study, we can frame the following hypothesis:

H0: There is positive influence of brand loyalty on customer satisfaction.

H1: There is negative influence of brand loyalty on customer satisfaction.

Problem statement:-

In globalization, thousands of brands are trying to gain new customers and tend to retain them. In this
competitive environment where customers have wide range and varieties of choices and availability of
huge amount of information related to product which make them excessive aware of the goods and
services and their functionalities and its uses so it is difficult for managers to stop them switching to other
brands and to make them loyal it is also difficult to take decision that what factors should be focused to
get their attention and to make them loyal.

24
 Scope of research:-

We observed that people are more brand conscious with the passage of time and they associate their
personality, lifestyle, and fashion with brands, some of them are satisfied and some of them are not, but
the thing is that we can easily find the people who are not satisfied but still use that particular brand. So
this study helps us to find the key element which actually holds them and create loyalty towards the brand.
This study will contribute to the research world and will show the existence of different elements which
really effected in different scenario and supposed to be applicable in other industries.

Limitations of the study:-

a) The research was conducted in the city of Mumbai. It cannot be compared to the rest of cities. The
result may not be applied to other industries, due to variation in demographic characteristics, customer
profile and purchase preference.

b) The study was depending on the sampling and due to the limited period, the entire population is not
taken into account.

c) The sample size taken is less and limited to familiarity Behaviour not random respondents.

d) The study is restricted only to online questionnaire.

e) The findings are drawn on the basis of information supplied by the respondents.

f) The opinions of the respondents may have been biased.

25
 Chapter 3: Review of literature:-

Mobile phones, particularly the smartphones that become our inseparable companies today, are relatively
new. However, the history of mobile phones goes back to 1908 when a US patent was issued in Kentucky
for a wireless telephone. Mobile phones were invented as early the 1940s when engineers working at
AT&T developed cells for mobile phone base stations. The very first mobile phones were not really
mobile phones at all. They were two-way radios that allowed people like taxi drivers and the emergency
services to communicate.

Instead of relying on base stations with separate cells( and the signal being passed from one cell to
another), the first mobile phone networks involved one very powerful base station covering a much wider
area.

Motorola, on 3 April 1973 were first company to mass produce the first handheld mobile phone. These
early mobile phones are often referred to as 0F mobile phones or zero generation mobile phones. Most
phones today rely on 3G or 4G mobile technology.

Mobile telephony has a long history that started off experiments of communications from and to moving
vehicle rather than handheld devices. In later years, the main challenges have laid in the development of
interoperable standard and coping with the explosive success and ever- increasing demand for bandwidth
and reliability

26
 History of mobile phones:

Mobile telephony has a long history that started off with experiments of communications from and to
moving vehicle rather than handheld devices.

In later years, the main challenges have laid in the development of interoperable standard and coping with
the explosive success and ever increasing demand for bandwidth and reliability.

1926: The first successful mobile telephony service was offered to first class passengers on the deutsche
on the route between Berlin and Hamburg.

1946: The first calls were made on a car radiotelephone in Chicago. Due to the small number of radio
frequencies available, the service quickly reached capacity.

1956: The first automated mobile phone system for private vehicles launched in Sweden. The device to
install in the car used vacuum tube technology with rotary dial and weighed 40Kg.

It had a total of 125 subscribers between Stockholm and Gothenburg.

1969: The Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) Group was established. It included engineers representing
Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. Its purpose was to develop a mobile phone system that, unlike the
systems being introduced in the US, focused on accessibility.

1973: Dr. Martin Cooper general manager at Motorola communications system division made the first
public mobile phone call on a device that weighed 1.1Kg.

1982: Engineers and administrators from eleven European countries gathered in Stockholm to consider
whether a Europe wide digital cellular phone system was technically and politically possible. The group
adopted the Nordic model of cooperation and laid the foundation of an international standard.

1985: Comedian Ernie Wise made the first “public” mobile phone call in the UK from outside the
Dickens‟ Pub in St Catherine‟s dock to Vodafone‟s HQ. He made the call in full Dickensian coachman‟s
garb.

27
1987: The Technical specifications for the GSM standard are approved. Based on digital technology, it
focused on interoperability across national boundaries and consequent different frequency bands, call
quality and low costs.

1992: The world‟s first ever SMS message was sent in the UK. Neil Papworth, aged 22 at the time was a
developer for a telecom contractor tasked with developing a messaging service for Vodafone. The text
message read “Merry Christmas” and was sent to Richard Jarvis, a director at Vodafone, who was
enjoying his office Christmas party.

1996/97: UK phone ownership stood at 16% of households. A decade later the figure was 80%. The
explosion in growth was in part driven the launch of the first pay as you go, non-contract phone service,
Vodafone Prepaid, in 1996.

1998: The first downloadable content sold to mobile phones was the ringtone, launched by Finland‟s
radioing, laying the groundwork for an industry that would eventually see the Crazy Frog ringtone rack up
total earnings of half a billion dollars and beat stadium-filling sub-rockers Coldplay to the number one
spot in the UK charts.

1999: emoji were invented by Hidaka Kurita in Japan. Unlike their all-text predecessor emoticons, emoji
are pictures. The same year in the UK sees the first shots fired in a supermarket price war, with Tesco,
Sainsbury‟s and Ads selling Pay and Go phones at discounted prices. For the first time, you could pick up
a mobile phone for just under £40.

The first BlackBerry phone was also unveiled in 1999. Famous for its super-easy email service,
BlackBerry handsets were seen as the ultimate business tool, allowing users to read and respond to
emails from anywhere. This led to 83% of users reading and responding to work emails while on holiday,
and over half admitted to sending emails on the toilet, winning the manufacturer the nickname Crack
Berry.

28
2000: The all-conquering Nokia 3310 crash landed on shop shelves. Naturally it was unscathed and went
on to sell 126 million units. Over in Japan, the first commercially available camera phone The Sharp J-
SH04, launched in November 2000 in Japan. The only snag? You could only use it in Japan. Europe
wouldn‟t get its first camera phone until the arrival of the Nokia 6750 in 2002.

2003: The 3G standard started to be adopted worldwide, kicking off the age of mobile internet and paving
the way for the rise of smartphones. Honk Kong-based Hutchinson Wampum owned three brand offered
the first 3G network connection in the UK among other countries. Staying very much on-brand, three
ranged a trio of 3G handsets, namely: the Motorola A830, the NEC e606 and NEC e808. Nepal was one
of the first countries in southern Asia to launch 3G services. One of Nepal‟s first companies to offer the
service, Nell, also covered Mount Everest with 3G.

2007: The iPhone debuted. Solely available on O2 at launch in the UK and priced at a then eye- watering
$499, Nokia CEO confidently dismissed it as little more than a „cool phone‟ that wouldn‟t translate
column inches into market share.

2008: The first Android phone turned up, in the form of the T-Mobile G1. Now dubbed the O.G of
Android phones, it was a long way from the high-end Android smartphones we use today. Not least
because it retained a physical keyboard and a BlackBerry-style trackball for navigation.
This year also saw the advent of both Apple‟s App Store and Android Market, later renamed Google
Play Store, paving the way for our modern-day app culture and creating a $77 billion industry.

2009: O2 publicly announced that it had successfully demonstrated a 4G connection using six LTE
masts in Slough, UK. The technology, which was supplied by Huawei, achieved a peak downlink rate of
150Mbps.

29
WhatsApp also launched that year, letting customers send and receive calls and messages via the internet.
The messaging system now has 1.2 billion users sending more than 10 billion messages a day. Which
makes it 50% more popular than traditional texting.

2010: Samsung launched its first Galaxy S smartphone. Usurping former Android giants, HTC, the
Samsung Galaxy S range is still the most popular Android brand.

2012: When text messages first arrived, most people didn‟t think they‟d catch on. Ten years later,
Britons were sending a billion messages per month. In 2012, British text volume reached its highest
point, with 151 billion sent in the UK alone.

2016: The Pokémon-Go app launched worldwide. The free augmented reality game uses the smartphone
camera and location to show Pokémon characters in the real world. The aim of the game is to travel to
different locations to collect as many Pokémon as possible, leading countless gamers to walk into lamp-
posts in their quest to catch „me all.

2017: The Nokia 3310 had a revival, sporting a fresh version equipped with basic web browsing, a
colorful screen and even a camera. Despite this, it still retained our favorite features from the original
3310, including the iconic design, super-long battery life and even an updated version of Snake. Needless
to say, it stole the show at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) tech expo and was one of the biggest hits
of the year.

Apple marked ten years in the smartphone game with the all-screen iPhone X and ditched a physical home
button for the first time

30
SWOT analysis of android:

Strengths

 Android is backed up by google in collaboration with Open Handset Alliance. The brand equity of
google adds more credibility and attention to Android OS than any other mobile OS.
 Google bring a leader in technology space can develop lot of mobile applications which can be
integrated with most of the google application with Gmail access.
 Unlike apple‟s iOS Android is compatible with most of the devices like HTC, Samsung,
Motorola, Sony Ericson, Micro max etc.
 Android is an open source mobile OS which has better flexibility and compatibility to many
devices. This makes developers to create many free Apps for Android market.
 Ease in Notification: Any SMS message, email, message from chat applications, update notified
in the home screen.
 Android is more cost effective and the licensing agreements are transparent and has lot of
relaxations. This favors Android mobile companies to price their products far cheaper compared
other OS like Symbian, iPhone, Windows, RIM etc.

Weakness

 Multimedia support for Android mobiles is less unlike Apple which has a centralized
repository called iTunes.
 As most of the apps are free, it has ads displayed either at the bottom or at the top of apps.
This annoys the user and reduces the user delight.

 Most of the android apps requires a constant internet connection to run.

 Since android OS is used by many mobile manufacturers it has to wait for compatibility test with
those manufacturers before releasing upgraded version of its OS.

 Android is always prone to external threats like malwares as it is developed friendly and source
code can be manipulated.

31
Opportunities

 Many mobile networks in US support Android, this was one of the reason for the heavy boost up
in their sales.
 Android market share has tremendously increased to 35 percent and it is expected to grow
double the times in another 3 years.
 Android OS is developed friendly which can result in development of advanced apps
compared to another OS.
 Better handset layouts, storage, connectivity, messaging, multiple language support, web browser,
java support, multi touch, tethering, screen capture are some of the highlights of android.
 Growth of developing countries in Asia and Africa is on the high, and hence it has
triggered up sales of smartphone.

Threats

 Android faces a tough threat from apple‟s iOS and any act of making iOS compatible to other
devices will result in decline of Android‟s market share.
 There are substitutes in Mobile OS like Symbian, RIM, iOS, Windows etc.

 Android is prone to security threats like malwares and viruses which can impasse the mobile.
 The biggest threat for android is downloading of apps from untrusted sites may lead the entire
system to crash or affect few applications in the mobile phone.
 Android‟s cheaper enables installation in low cost mobile which affects the user status quotient
compared to iPhone, Symbian, RIM etc.
 Recent threat to android was from Trojan virus through SMS and another threat is from its tap
snake game.

32
 Success of mobile phones:

The mobile phone is single most transformative technology. Mobile phones are becoming a necessity.
Mobile phones have something to teach us about the adoption of other technologies. Since the 1960s,
there have been numerous innovation in agriculture, health, medicine, energy and information and
communication that could potentially improve the well-being of poor populations is developing
countries.

Mobile phones have been one of the most successful technologies ever introduced and adopted in the
developing world. There are over more than 4billion mobile phone subscribers worldwide, including 1.7
million in Asia, 460 million in Latin America and 376 million in sub- Saharan Africa. Adoption has
occurred in different political environments, in countries with multiple languages, with different mobile
phone service providers and without much substantial investment from the public sector.

People have adopted to mobile phones because,

1. Unlike mobile phones have multiple uses (voice, SMS and internet) and multiple
purposes, which can therefore translate into diverse economic and social benefits – such
as talking with friends and family members, obtaining price or labor market information
or asking colleagues for financial help.
2. Many of these benefits are tangible and immediate, thereby allowing people to decide
fairly quickly what those benefits are – rather than waiting for specific periods of the
year.
3. Mobile phones (especially the voice operations) are fairly easy to use, do not require
literacy and can be learned quickly by practicing or from others.

33
4. Not everyone needs to use a mobile phone to benefit from it. Multiple people can use one mobile
phone, which means that its cost can be shared among multiple users. At the same time, there are
potential spillovers, since multiple people can benefit from one person‟s use (e.g., information-
sharing).

5. Mobile phones can be easily adapted to local contexts. While the technology is still relatively new,
mobile phones do not necessarily ask individuals to drastically change their existing agricultural,
social or cultural practices. Rather, they provide an alternative form of communication.

6. The mobile phone distribution system – handsets, SIM cards, scratch cards and charging services –
extends into urban and rural areas (Coca-Cola, anyone)? This means that mobile-related services are
available to users, thereby facilitating adoption. And the way in which those services are provided –
via the pre-paid System -- allows credit- constrained users to buy credit as they need it, and for
increasingly tiny amounts.

34
 Problem areas in mobile phone:

The state of mobile device performance and health trend report: Q4 2015 reveals that worldwide, the top 5
trouble spots account for 39% of all mobile phones failures. The camera is the most trouble-prone part of
a smartphone, responsible for 10% of hardware issues. The other top problem areas were the touch screen
(9%), battery charging (8%), the microphone (6%).

According the Blanco technology group, “The report‟s findings are based on aggregate, anonymized data”
collected by the company.

Surprisingly, smartphone trouble spots varied widely by region. North American users, for example,
seemed to be picker about performance, with 17% of hardware problems attributed to slow operation.
That was followed by the camera (8%), batter charging (7%), headset (6%), and microphone (6%). In
Europe, by far the biggest problem was carrier signal, which accounted for a whopping 42% of hardware
problems, followed by the ability to make a call (14%), and then by camera and Wi-Fi issues.

35
 Chapter 4

Mobile industry in India:

With rapid consumerism sweeping the country, India has emerged as the second largest mobile handset
market, poised for explosive growth by 2007. The major drivers for growth have been the demand and
the existence of companies providing the most technologically advanced handsets at justifiable prices.
The technological developments have been the driving factor for the increasing demand graph.

The mobile handset market in India is estimated to be worth Rs.8.05 billion (US $ 2 billion) as of 2004/05
and will surge by 62% with approximately 100- millions subscribers are willing to pay for upgrades,
value- based services, and advanced models that provide better services.

There has been a growth in the mobile handset market in India and the demand increasing with the
increasing tele-density. The market is overloaded with the number of mobile handset providers due to
which the customers can bargain for a reasonable price for the mobile. The various players are Nokia,
Samsung, Motorola, Sony, Ericsson, Alcatel, Panasonic, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Philips, NEC, L.G,
Sharp, VK Mobile, Palm, O2, and I-mate, Blackberry, Haier, Bird, HP, etc.

Dominated largely by Nokia with a total market share of 60%, followed by Samsung (14%) and Motorola
(7%) respectively, Indian mobile handset market is currently catering to 45 million subscribers (June 2005).

Recent records show that Indian GSM cellular user base has grown from 43 million, as estimated in May,
to 45 million in June 2008, representing a growth of 3.50% in the month under review, witnessing large
and propitious foreign investors flooding the market eyeing.

36
 Brand loyalty:-

J. Douglas McConnell (1968) , has conducted a research study titled, “The Development of

Brand Loyalty: An Experimental Study”, A field experiment with a factorial design showed that
consumers developed preferences for three brands of a physically homogeneous product (beer), identical
except for brand name and price. The significance of the experiment for marketing researchers lies mainly
in the relative importance of perceived quality as a determinant of brand loyalty. Obviously price is only
one cue to quality in the real world, and this makes perceived quality more difficult to measure than
purchases over time. Nevertheless, it is considered that more complex models having such variables will
provide considerably greater predictive power than the stochastic models being suggested.

Jadish N. Sheath (1968),

in the paper, “A Factor Analytical Model of Brand Loyalty”, with factor analysis as a method of
estimating parameters, an empirical model of measuring brand loyalty for individual consumers based on
frequency and pattern of purchases is presented. Since we are more accustomed to probability notions, an
interesting extension of this research would be to establish isomorphic transformation of brand loyalty
scores into probability measures.

The resulting probabilities would then be functions of both frequency and pattern (history) of purchases
because brand loyalty scores are themselves based on both frequency and pattern of purchases. Despite
some limitations, the method seems superior to stochastic models for generating robust measures at the
individual level. Reviews in brand loyalty are restricted though it is an exhaustive area to explore
complete reviews and it may deviate from the title.

37
Kevin Lane Keller (1993),
has contributed a paper in the topic, “Conceptualizing, Measuring, and Managing Customer-Based Brand
Equity”. The author presents a conceptual model of brand equity from the perspective of the individual
consumer. Customer-based brand equity occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand and holds
some favorable, strong, and unique brand associations in memory. The article also explores some specific
aspects of this conceptualization by considering how customer based brand equity is built, measured, and
managed. Building brand equity requires creating a familiar brand name and a positive brand image-that
is, favorable, strong, and unique brand associations. Strategies to build customer- based brand equity are
discussed in terms of both the initial choice of the brand identities (brand name, logo, and symbol) and
how the brand identities are supported by and integrated into the marketing program. Two basic
approaches to measuring customer-based brand equity are outlined. The indirect approach measures
brand knowledge (brand awareness and image) to assess the potential sources of brand equity. The direct
approach measures the effects of the brand knowledge on consumer response to elements of the
marketing mix. This article provides the base for this research study.

Chan Su Park and V. Srinivasan (1994),

their study on “A Survey-Based Method for Measuring and Understanding Brand Equity and Its
Extendibility” the authors develop a new survey-based method for measuring and understanding a brand's
equity in a product category and evaluating the equity of the brand's extension into a different but related
product category. It uses a customer-based definition of brand equity as the added value endowed by the
brand to the product as perceived by a consumer. It measures brand equity as the difference between an
individual consumer's overall brand preference and his or her brand preference on the basis of objectively
measured product attribute levels. To understand the sources of brand equity, the approach divides brand
equity into attribute-based and non-attribute-based components.

Cathy J. cob -Walgreen, Cynthia A. Rubble and Naveen, in their paper titled Brand Equity, Brand
Preference, and Purchase Intent, explores some of the consequences of brand equity. In particular, the
authors examine the effect of brand equity on consumer preferences and purchase intentions. As a result of
the study, across the two categories hotels and household cleansers, the brand with the higher advertising
budget yielded substantially higher levels of brand equity. In turn, the brand with the higher equity in each
category generated significantly greater preferences and purchase intentions.

38
Deepak and Agarwal (1996), in their research study,
“Effect of Brand Loyalty on Advertising and Trade Promotions: A Game Theoretic Analysis with
Empirical Evidence”, in this paper the authors examined the issue of balancing media advertising (pull
strategy) and trade promotions (push strategy) for manufacturers of consumer packaged goods. The
analysis indicates that, if one brand is sufficiently stronger than the other and if advertising is cost
effective, then the stronger brand loyalty requires less advertising than weaker brand loyalty, but a larger
loyal segment requires more advertising than a smaller loyal segment. The analysis indicates that the
retailer promotes the stronger loyalty brand more often but provides a smaller price discount for it
compared to the weaker loyalty brand. In this sense, the stronger brand plays "offensive" by using more
trade promotions, and the weaker brand plays "defensive" by emphasizing advertising. The results shows
that, the retailer promotes stronger loyalty brands more often but provides a smaller price discount on
average for them compared to weaker loyalty brands.

Lausanne Buchanan, Carolyn J. Simmons and Barbara Bicker (1999),

written an article labelled as Brand Equity Dilution: Retailer Display and Context Brand Effects. In this
research, the authors demonstrate that the retailer's display decisions can negate the equity of an
established brand. Specifically, the results demonstrate that high-equity brand valuations are influenced
by an unfamiliar context brand when
(1) a mixed display structure leads consumers to believe that the context brand is Please purchase PDF
Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Diagnostic for judging the high-equity
brand,
(2) the precedence given to one brand over another in the display makes expectations about brand
differences or similarities accessible, and
(3) the unfamiliar context brand disconfirms these expectations.

39
Turin Edam, Joffre Swat, Susan Brownback, Danker Chakravarti, Jean-Noël Kapferer, Michael
Keane, John Roberts, Jan-Benedict E. M. Steenkamp and Florian Zettelmeyer (1999),
contributed a research study in the title, Brand Equity, Consumer Learning and Choice, The objective of
this paper is to explore the links between brand equity, consumer learning and consumer choice processes
in general and considering two recent trends in the market place: Store brands and the Internet. Brand
equity has generally been defined as the incremental utility with which a brand endows a product,
compared to its non-branded counterpart. The study amplified this definition and proposed that brand
equity be the incremental effect of the brand on all aspects of the consumer's evaluation and choice
process.

Lampo, Sandra Scamardo (2001),

in his Ph.D study titled as “An exploration of services branding, explored the reasons for branding of
services. He quoted in his study that, brand development is crucial Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on
www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. In services, and may be even more important to services
than to products. This dissertation contributes a theoretically- and empirically-based model of services
brand preference to the literature providing academicians and brand managers a useful framework for
understanding the relationship between services brand associations, service type, and services brand
preference. The results outlined the importance of fundamental aspects of services branding, which gives
more emphasis for the present research.

James B. Faircloth, Louis M. Capella and Bruce L. Alford (2001),

in their research paper titled, the Effect of Brand Attitude and Brand Image on Brand Equity
operationalizes brand equity and empirically tests a conceptual model adapted from the work of
Aaker (1991) and Keller (1993) considering the effect of brand attitude and brand image on brand
equity. The results indicate that brand equity can be manipulated at the independent construct level by
providing specific brand associations or signals to consumers and that these associations will result in
images and attitudes that influence brand equity. The results suggest that focusing on the constructs
that create brand equity is more relevant to managers than trying to measure it as an aggregated
financial performance outcome.

40
Steve Hoffeler and Kevin Lane Keller (2002),
conducted a research study in the topic, “Building Brand Equity through Corporate Societal Marketing”.
In this article, the authors describe six means by which CSM programs can build brand equity: (1)
building brand awareness, (2) enhancing brand image, (3) establishing brand credibility, (4) evoking
brand feelings, (5) creating a sense of brand community, and (6) eliciting brand engagement. The
authors also address three key questions revolving around how CSM programs have their effects, which
cause the firm should choose, and how CSM programs should be branded. The results identified through
hypothesis are Co-branding through a CSM program is most appropriate as a means to complement the
brand image with the specific associations leveraged from the cause.
Self-branding a CSM program is most appropriate as a means of augmenting existing Please purchase PDF
Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Consumers associations through emotional or
imagery appeals.

Susan M. Broniarczyk and Andrew D. Gershoff (2003),

conducted a research in the topic, “the Reciprocal Effects of Brand Equity and Trivial Attributes”. The
authors present two experiments that examine the effect of brand equity on consumer valuation of such
trivial attributes and the reciprocal effect that may have on brand equity. The results show that both high
and low equity brands benefit from offering an attractive trivial attribute in the absence of a disclosure of its
true value. Competing low equity brands benefit by sharing the trivial attribute with a higher equity brand,
whereas competing high equity brands benefit from uniquely offering a trivial attribute.

Peter J. Danaher, Isaac W. Wilson and Robert A. Davis (2003)14

, in their paper, A Comparison of Online and Offline Consumer Brand Loyalty, the authors‟ compared consumer
brand loyalty in online and traditional shopping environments for over 100 brands in 19 grocery product
categories. They compared the observed loyalty with a baseline model, a new segmented Dirichlet model,
which has latent classes for brand choice and provides a very accurate model for purchase behaviour. The
results show that observed brand loyalty for high market share brands bought online is significantly
greater than expected, with the reverse result for small share brands. In contrast, in the traditional
shopping environment, the difference between observed and predicted brand loyalty is not related to brand
share.

41
 Casey, Russell Allan (2003)
in his study, the effect of brand equity on brand knowledge: An empirical and comparative analysis
focuses on the reciprocal effects of brand extensions on brand please purchase PDF Split-Merge on
www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark.
Knowledge and its effect on the parent brand. Previous findings state that luxury brands appear to be able
to extend into unrelated categories. The findings also suggest that students that attend a Historically
Black College/University (HBCU) perceive brand extensions differently than students that attend a
Predominately White Institution (PWI). Conclusions suggest that companies desiring to make an
unrelated brand extension should take into consideration their target population prior to launching a
brand extension.

Girish N. Punj and Clayton L. Hillyer (2004),

conducted a research work in the topic, A Cognitive Model of Customer-Based Brand Equity for
Frequently Purchased Products: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Results research. Four cognitive
components are labelled as global brand attitude, strength of preference, brand knowledge, and brand
heuristic. The results indicate that all the identified cognitive components are important determinants of
customer-based brand equity. Specifically, the brand heuristic component serves as an important
mediator in 2 "cognitive chains" that link global brand attitude to brand knowledge and global brand
attitude to strength of preference, respectively.

Roland T. Rust, Katherine N. Lemon and Valarie A. Zeithaml (2004),

in their paper on,“Return on Marketing: Using Customer Equity to Focus Marketing Strategy”, the authors present
a unified strategic framework that enables competing marketing strategy options. The change in the firm's
customer equity is the change in its current and future customers' lifetime values, summed across all
customers in the industry. To demonstrate how the approach can be implemented in a specific corporate
setting and to show the methods used to test and validate the model, the authors illustrate a detailed
application of the approach by using data from the airline industry. Their framework enables what-if
evaluation of marketing return on investment, which can include such criteria as return on quality, return
on advertising, return on loyalty programs, and even return on corporate citizenship, given a particular
shift in customer perceptions.

42
Janell D Townsend (2005),
in his PH.D research titled, Sources and consequences of brand equity in the automotive industry, focused
to understand the effect of firm level strategic actions on consumer based dimensions of brand equity,
conceptualized as awareness, intended loyalty, perceived quality, perceived economy, and image. The
results indicate a positive effect of advertising, as measured by Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on
www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Annual expenditures, on all the dimensions of brand equity,
except luxury image. Innovativeness, as defined by new product introductions, positively affects all the
dimensions except perceived value. The contextual factors of region of origin and global brand reach
have mixed effects on the consumer-based dimensions of brand equity.

Chapter 5: Data analysis, Interpretation and Presentation:-

From the above pie diagram, we can conclude that 53.3% males responded to this survey,
45% females responded to this survey and remaining 1.67% people respondent to prefer not
to say.
43
2)

Out of the total population 81.7% people are between 15 to 25 years of age,
11.7% people are between 25-35 years of age, 5% people are between 35 to
45 years of age, and 1.6 % are above 45 years of age.

44
3)

As we can conclude, the greatest number of students filled this survey i.e. 80%,
10% are businessman, 6.7 % are service man and 3.3% are professionals.

45
4)

As per the research conducted, 40% of the people are influenced by brand name of the
mobile when they purchase their product. 26.7% of people are influenced by price factor
of the product. 13.3% of people are influenced by easy availability of the product and the
remaining 20% are influenced by other attributes of their product.

46
5)

From the above pie chart we conclude, that 43.3% of peoples are influenced by their family & friends
before purchasing mobile phone, 30% of peoples are influenced by advertisement, 16.7% of peoples are
influenced by word of mouth advertisement, and the remaining 10% are influenced by some other factors.

47
6)

According to research conducted, 53.3% of people agree that image of a

brand influence them while purchasing a mobile phone, 40% of people
disagree that image of a particular mobile phone does not influence them and
the remaining, 6.67 % of people have neutral opinion about this.

48
7)

As per the research conducted, 63.3% people are influenced by the name of a
particular mobile phone brand, 28.3% of people are not influenced by the
name of a particular mobile phone brand, and 8.3% of people opinion is
neutral.

49
8)

As per the research conducted, 68.3% of people agree that price of a particular
mobile phone brand influence them while purchasing a mobile phone, 26.7%
of the people have neutral opinion, 5% of the people disagree that price has
no influence on them while purchasing a mobile phone.

50
9)

As per the research conducted, here we conclude that 6.67% of peoples are
influenced by the brand ambassador, 61.67 of people are not influenced by
whoever is endorsing the brand, and remaining 31.7% of people are either
influenced or not influenced by the brand ambassador.

51
10)

As per the research conducted, 35% people say yes that they will switch their
mobile phone brand with other mobile phone brand, 28.3% of people say no
that they will not switch their mobile phone brand with other mobile phone
brands available in the market and the remaining 36.7% people here have
maybe opinion like they will or will not switch their brands it however
depends on their choice.

52
11)

As per the research conducted, 68.3% people here recommend their chosen
mobile phone brand to others, 6.7% people here do not recommend their
chosen mobile phone brands to others, and the remaining 25% people here have
maybe opinion like they will or will not recommend their chosen mobile phone
brands to others.

53
12)

As per the research conducted, here majority of people i.e. 63.3% people
disagree that they will not buy a mobile phone if their favourite celebrity is
endorsing it, 16.7% people here agree that they will buy a mobile phone if their
favourite celebrity is endorsing it, 15% people here strongly disagree that they
are not influenced by any celebrity who is endorsing the mobile phone, and the
remaining 5% here strongly agree that celebrity endorsement influences them
while purchasing a particular mobile phone.

54
13)

As per the research conducted, 40% of the people are committed to their mobile
phone brand, 36.67% people have fair opinion about this, 18.33% people are
very much committed to their mobile phone brand, and the remaining 5%
people are not committed to their mobile phone brand.

55
 Chapter 6:

Findings, suggestions and Conclusion:-

Findings:

 According to the survey conducted most number of the women‟s filled the forms.

 81.67% of people are whom the age group of 15-25 years, 11.7% are from the 25-35 years, 7%
are from the age group of 25-35 years and the remaining 5% are above the age group of 45 years.

 Most number of the students filled the survey, as they were the main target, but sufficient number
of working people also filled the form.

 People usually do research before buying a phone because it is an investment which will last you

 for about 2 years minimum. But, not all people prefer to do research because they may be sure of
which brand and which model they want to purchase

 As per the survey conducted on which attributes of the mobile phone influenced them, hereby we
get that, 40% of individuals are influenced by the brand name attribute of the product, 26.7% are
influenced by the price factor of the mobile phone, 13.3% are influenced by the easy availability
of the brand, and the remaining 20% are influenced by some other factors
.
 Friends being the most influential are reference groups that help an individual select a mobile
handset. Family is also a reason for selecting a phone, because there are many variables that
influences them such as family income, brand preferences, etc.

 Image of a mobile phone brand influences individual when they go purchase a mobile phone.
53.3% of the people are largely influenced by the image of a brand, 6.7% people disagree that
image of a brand does not influence their purchasing behaviour, 40% people have neutral opinion
about this.

56
 According to the survey, 68.3% of people agree that the name of a mobile phone brand influences
their purchasing behaviour, 28.3% people disagree that name of a brand do not influence their
decision, 28.3% people have neutral opinion about this.

 Price is one of the most important factor which influences the purchasing behaviour of the
consumers, 68.3% people hereby according to the survey are influenced by the prices of the
mobile phone, 5% people are not influenced by the price factor of the mobile phone, 26.7%
people have neutral opinion that they may be or may not get influenced by the prices of mobile
phone brands.

 As per the research conducted, 61.7% people say no that their purchasing behaviour is not
influenced by the brand ambassador, 31.7% people say they may or may be not influenced by
the brand ambassador, and the remaining 6.7% people say yes their purchasing decision is
influenced by the brand ambassador while purchasing a mobile phone.

 Most people prefer to switch their brands as they may want to experiment with new brands,
new models, and new features. But there are also many people who prefer to remain brand
loyal, because they receive all the benefits and their needs are satisfied using that brand.

 As per the satisfaction level of different individuals, 68.3% people hereby agree that they will
recommend their chosen mobile phone brand to others, 6.7% people say no that they will not
recommend their chosen brands to others, and remaining 25% people have may be opinion that
they will or will not recommend their brands to others.

 As per the survey, majority of people i.e. 63.3% disagree that they are not influenced by the
celebrity endorsement, 16.67% people agree that they are influenced by the celebrity
endorsement, 15% people here strongly disagree that they are not influenced even if their
favourite celebrity is endorsing the brand, 5% people strongly agree that their mobile phone
purchasing behaviour is influenced if their favourite celebrity is endorsing it.

 Here by we conclude, that according to research only 18.3% people are vey much committed
to their mobile phone brand, 40% people are somewhat committed to their brand, 36.7%
people have fair opinion about this, and the remaining 5% are not committed to their brands.
57
Suggestions:-

 Since the majority of mobile users were aged below 25 years, so it is suggested to provide more
benefits, produce attractive and fashionable models catering specially to the youth.

 People above 45 years of age seem to be less addicted to mobile culture. Special drives in the form
of scheme and packages may be thought of to increase the usage.

 Family and friends have played a major role in the selection of brand of mobile phone. Hence
special packages for family members and friends may be considered.

 Mobile phone manufacturers should offer price discount so that all income group will be able to
consume according to their preferences.

 Mobile manufacturing companies should concentrate more on developing the product and spend
more time enhancing their products and offer it at a lower price, which can be done by employing
cost reduction measures.

 Mobile manufactures should improve and focus on technical features of the mobile.

 Manufactures should reduce their advertisement cost because most of the respondents select
their phone on the basis of their reference groups.

 They should give more attention to after sales service. The service centres should be able to carry
out fast repairs.

 Nowadays, almost all the companies are coming up with phones with latest features, but it is
priced very high. As a result, it cannot be afforded by the common man. Companies should make
efforts to bring down the cost of such mobiles to increase its sales.

58
 Battery backup is the most essential feature of mobile phone. Higher the battery backup more
customers are satisfied which ultimately leads to brand loyalty. So, manufactures should
consider it immediately.

 Companies manufacturing mobile phones should openly advertise “buy back schemes” which
creates interest in the consumers to go for a change. Enough awareness should be created
highlighting technological improvements and cost advantage to initiate the buyers for changing their
handset.

 About the usability, Mobile phones are not that user friendly and facing a lot of problems, like
navigating the map, or delivery of an error message. Therefore, mobile manufacturing companies
should build user friendly handsets.

As a result, all this suggestions should be taken into note and put forward in order to improve brand
loyalty among mobile phone users. However most of the people are committed to their mobile
phone but as there are easy availability of various mobile phones which offer almost same benefits;
so mobile phone brands should always be in a position to bring some innovations in their brand as
majority of people are always in hurry to try new products with latest technological development.

59
 Conclusion:-

Due to the spreading of technical and social innovations, the adoption of the mobile phones has engendered
both hopes and fears. In the early years of the adoption, when the use of the mobile phone rose rapidly,
there was a lot of interest in how the mobile phone would change the interaction between people and,
especially, within families with children. The issues of how the everyday life and communication between
people would change because of the mobile phone gained a lot of significance.

Cell phone as emerged as a boon by providing facilities which a common man cannot imagine. Though
cell phone industry has its origin in the recent past and the growth has been excellent. Day by day many
new competitors enter the market with additional facilities and new features to existing ones and also
introduce varieties of hand sets.

There are many mobile phone brands which provides many benefits which matches with the latest
technological advancement. This is proved very difficult for the mobile phone companies to maintain
brand loyalty. There are many consumers who wants latest technology in their mobile phones so if their
brand do not provide the benefits which they want they are in a position to switch with the alternate brand
available in the market.

The mobile phone has almost replaced other means of communication and is becoming cheaper and
cheaper every day. The coverage of mobile phones has also crossed the deepest rural areas. There are
hardly a few who do not avail the benefits of a cell phone.

In the analysis, we found that the major influencing factors are features of the cell phone. It is
recommended that mobile manufacturing companies should focus on their products and build more user-
friendly phones so that their customers remain loyal to them. They should also offer it at a lower price by
using cost reduction measures and build user friendly phones. They should also enhance their goodwill in
the market as it is found through research that majority of people are influenced even by the name of the
brand.

60
The mobile phone company should also keep in note while advertising that proper celebrity should be
chosen for endorsing their brand, most there are many people who buy the brand of a mobile phone if
their favourite celebrity is endorsing it.

Mobile user survey is useful in determining how the company is fairing on its journey and the feedback
thus received helps it to correct it. All manufacturers should aim at creating more delighted customers
rather than simply satisfied customers. Because if the customer is satisfied it will lead to positive word of
mouth and also if the customer is happy it will lead to brand loyalty.

61
 Chapter7

Bibliography:-
1) (https://www.umassd.edu/fycm/brandloyalty/)

2) (https://www.quora.com/what-are-the-types-of-cell-phones)

3) www.shodhganga.com

4) www.google.co.in

5) (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-36795098)

6) (https://www.networkworld.com/article/3036605/how-smartphone-fail.html)

7) (https://www.cgdev.org/blog/why-have-mobile-phones-succeeded-

where-other- technologies-have-not)

8) Phones(https://www.marketing91.com/android-swot-analysis/)

9) (https://www.ailymail.co.uk/health/article-124936/Mobile-phone-case-

studies.html)

10) https://www.academia.edu/7717242/fACTORS_INFLENCING_CONSUMER_

BEHAVI OR_IN_SELECTING_MOBILE_PHONE_HANSET)
62
 Chapter 8:-

Annexure:

1) Name:-

2) Gender:-

 Male

 Female

 Prefer not to say

3) Age:-

 15-25 years

 25-35 years

 35-45 years

 Above 45 years

4) Occupation:-

 Service

 Businessman

 Professional

 Student

63
5) Which attributes of the mobile phone brand influence you to purchase their product?

 Price

 Easy availability

 Brand name

 Other

6) What influences you to choose a particular mobile phone brand?

 Advertisement

 Word of mouth

 Family& friends

 Other

7) Image of a brand influence you while purchasing a particular mobile phone?

 Agree

 Disagree

 Neutral

8) Price of a brand influence you while purchasing a particular mobile phone?

 Agree

 Disagree

 Neutral

64
9) Does brand ambassador affect you while purchasing a particular mobile phone?

 Yes

 No

 Maybe

10) Would you switch your current mobile phone brand with different brands available in the
market?
 Yes

 No

 Maybe

11) Do you recommend your chosen mobile phone brand to others?

 Yes

 No

 Maybe

12) Would you buy a mobile phone brand if your favourite celebrity is endorsing it?

 Agree

 Disagree

 Strongly agree
 Strongly disagree
65
13) How would you rate your commitment with your current mobile phone brand?

 Committed

 Very committed

 Fair

 Uncommitted

66
67