1.

Introduction

1.1 Background

Mobile phones aren't just a rich person's fashion today. It is transforming the
way thousands of people do business in a country where even landline phones were a
luxury a decade ago. As an essential element of daily life, the purchase of a mobile
phone is an important decision with a variety of mobile phone brands available to
choose from. Each mobile phone manufacturer consistently updates their offerings
with the latest technological updates and many customers have a preferred brand that
suits them or a brand they have become familiar with. Across the globe, even people
with low incomes are now adopting cellular phones as tools for enhancing their
business.

A brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an

organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer (AMA, 2011).
Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising. Name brands are sometimes
distinguished from generic or store brands. The practice of branding is thought to
have begun with the ancient Egyptians who were known to have engaged in livestock
branding as early as 2,700 BCE (Wheeler, 1946). Branding was used to differentiate
one person’s cattle from another's by means of a distinctive symbol burned into the
animal’s skin with a hot branding iron. If a person stole any of the cattle, anyone else
who saw the symbol could deduce the actual owner. However, the term has been
extended to mean a strategic personality for a product or company, so that ‘brand’
now suggests the values and promises that a consumer may perceive and buy into.
Over time, the practice of branding objects extended to a broader range of packaging
and goods offered for sale including oil, wine, cosmetics and fish sauce.

Branding is a set of marketing and communication methods that help to

distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting
impression in the minds of customers. The key components that form a brand's
toolbox include a brand’s identity, brand communication (such as by logos and
trademarks), brand awareness, brand loyalty, and various branding (brand
management) strategies. Many companies believe that there is often little to
differentiate between several types of products in the 21st century, and therefore

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branding is one of a few remaining forms of product differentiation (Ghodeswar,
2008).

Communication has played a very important role in the life of human beings.
Communication is needed to contact each other. People who are very far away can be
contacted through communication. In the past, various forms of communication were
used. In ancient times, pigeons used to deliver messages from one person to another.
With the advent of time, new forms of communication were invented like telegraph,
telephone, etc. The mobile phone nowadays is a very useful means of communication
which is being used by each and almost every person in the modern world.

The most crucial issue for the marketers is to identify the needs of the
consumers. Only the identification of needs is of no value unless and until this is
transformed in to a meaningful and appropriate satisfier. For this whole process of
converting needs into actual satisfaction one needs to understand the complete make
up of consumer’s mind, and this process is known as consumer behavior. Let’s also
discuss some of the definitions of consumer behavior. According to Schiffman and
Kanuk “Consumer behavior encompasses all of the behaviors that consumers display
in searching for, purchasing, using, evaluating and disposing of products and services
that they expect will satisfy their needs”. Consumer behavior is the study of
consumers regarding what they buy, when do they buy, from where they buy, how
frequently they buy, and how they use certain products. But the study does not stop
here as it also goes further to study the post purchase and evaluations of the
consumers. So, it addresses all the issues related from pre-purchase to post purchase
behavior of the consumers. The study regarding consumer behavior can be divided
into two parts i.e. consumer buying dynamics and dynamics of business buyers
(Selvalakshmi and Kumar, 2015).

According to Oxford English Dictionary one of the earliest uses of word

"mobile" was in association with the Latin phrase "mobile vulgus", i.e. excitable
crowd. Today's mobile phones live up to these origins. Cell phone technology
introduces new senses of speed and connectivity to social life. If the fixed line
telephone has brought communication links into the workplace and homes, the
"mobile" puts them straight into the hands of numbers and varieties of individuals.

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 The cellular telephone (commonly "mobile phone" or "cell phone" or "hand
phone") is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In
addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can
support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet
switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and
video. Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell
sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network
(PSTN) (the exception is satellite phones. Cellular telephone is also defined as a type
of short-wave analog or digital telecommunication in which a subscriber has a
wireless connection from a mobile telephone to a relatively nearby transmitter. The
transmitter's span of coverage is called a cell. Generally, cellular telephone service is
available in urban areas and along major highways. As the cellular telephone user
moves from one cell or area of coverage to another, the telephone is effectively passed
on to the local cell transmitter. A cellular telephone is not to be confused with a
cordless telephone (which is simply a phone with a very short wireless connection to a
local phone outlet). A newer service similar to cellular is personal communications
services (PCS) (Heeks, 2008).

The global mobile phone industry is based on many different manufacturers

and operators. The industry is based on advanced technology and many of the
manufacturers are operating in different industries, where they use their technological
skills, distribution network, market knowledge and brand name. Four large
manufacturers of mobile phones are today dominating the global mobile phone
industry; Nokia, Sony Ericson, Samsung and Motorola. In addition to these
companies there are many manufacturers that operate globally and locally.

1.1.1 History

In ancient times people used pigeon, swan, eagle, horse, etc. for sending
message to others. In the 18th century, people used first mail coach to send the
information. This method took a large number of days to deliver the message. Later
the revolution in the science and technology had developed to a great extent. The
technological developments in the field of telecommunication have reached a new
height in recent times. These developments are aimed to provide the customers with
new services to meet various requirements based on their utilization for their benefit.
The most modern technologies are Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM),

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Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP),
Direct Internet Access Service (DIAS), Managed Leased Line Network (MLLN),
Multiprotocol Label Switching – Virtual Path Network (MPLS-VPN), etc. These
technologies had given many qualities of communication namely best quality, speed,
clarity, low tariff, etc. (Wallop, 2011).

The idea for cellular telephony originated in the US. The first cellular call and
the first call from a hand held cellular device also were placed in the US. The mobile
phone merges the landline telephony system with wireless communication. The
landline telephone was first patented in 1876. Mobile radio systems have been used
since the early 1900’s in the form of ship to shore radio, and were installed in some
police cars in Detroit starting in 1921. The blending of landline telephone and radio
communication came after the Second World War. The first commercially available
"mobile radiophone service" that allowed calls from fixed to mobile telephones was
offered in St. Louis in 1946. By 1964 there were 1.5 million mobile phone users in the
US.This was a non-cellular system that made relatively inefficient use of the radio
bandwidth. In addition, the telephones were large, energy intensive car-mounted
devices. In the drive to produce a more efficient mobile telephone system, researchers
W. Rae Young and Douglas Ring of Bell Labs developed the idea of cellular
telephony, in which geographical areas are divided into a mesh of cells, each with its
own cell tower. This allowed a far more efficient use of the radio spectrum and the
"cell" phones needed less power to send and receive a signal. The first installation was
in 1969 on the Amtrak Metroliner that traveled between New York City and
Washington. Four years later Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first cellular call
from a prototype handheld cell phone.

The world's first commercial automated cellular network was launched in

Japan by NTT in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. On 6 March 1983,
the DynaTAc mobile phone launched on the first US 1G network by Ameritech. In
1991, the second generation (2G) cellular technology was launched in Finland
by Radiolinja on the GSM standard and ten years later, in 2001, the third generation
(3G) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on the WCDMA Standard.

The history of mobile phone usage in Nepal dates back to 1999 when NTC
started providing GSM mobile service from May 1999. Mobile phones have emerged
as an important means for communication in Nepal. Its role has been significant in the

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development of various industries of Nepal. Mobile phones were considered as means
of pleasure and luxury some years back, but today it has become the need of almost
all people in Nepal for business purposes, convenience as well as for maintaining
one's status in the society. At the beginning when NTC started its GSM mobile service
with post paid service then there were very few mobile phone users that also within
Kathmandu valley only. Later NTC started pre paid service and distributed more than
one lakh sim cards. It also improved its network services throughout the country
which increased the mobile users in Nepal. Queue were started to be seen outside
Nepal telecom's offices for sim card which showed the mobile phone popularity
across Nepal. With evolution of other mobile telecommunication service providers
like NCELL and UTL, today, almost every adult in Nepal possess a mobile phone of
and each individual's mobile phone varies in model and brand from the other's
(Hawkins, 2004).

Due to today’s up tight competition, developing a strong, positive image has

become crucial to the maintenance of lasting competitive advantage. In addition,
rapidly changing consumer needs and markets, place strong pressure to businesses to
sustain their brand image and keep their products and services up to date. Brand
image refers to the perception of a certain brand in the mind of the consumer when a
brand name is mentioned, whereas brand awareness measures the customer’s ability
to recognize the brand when seeing the brand name, logo, symbol, etc. Building up a
strong brand is not easy but if a brand could build a better image than its competitors’,
then it would enjoy a degree of protection. With high brand image, a business can
gain greater perception of the brand among customers, customer loyalty, high profit
margins, less negative attitude to price fluctuations and less vulnerability compared to
competitors (Ashhan, 2006).

To sum up, nowadays, brands are considered to be the key element when
developing relationships between companies and consumers. Brands are the key to
winning a position in the marketplace because they deliver unique benefits and build
deep connections with customers. In addition, young customers are the most critical,
though, very important group to take into consideration because customers can always
choose from where they buy. Consequently, they will buy from the manufacturer that
provides the most value (Kulkarni, 2013).

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 Measures of brand preference attempt to quantify the impact of marketing
activities in the hearts and minds of customers and potential customers. Higher brand
preference usually indicates more revenues (sales) and profit, also making it an
indicator of company financial performance.

A model is presented which quantifies the brand preferences motivating

consumer purchases from market displays. This method of studying brand preference
uses the market display as a laboratory for conducting controlled experiments. Price,
quality of display space, point-of-sale merchandising, and display allocation are
controlled to isolate the effect of brand preference upon consumer purchases.
Quantitative estimates of the percentage of brand-motivated sales and the proportion
of brand-motivated customers with allegiance to each brand are developed. The effect
of price differentials upon the brand-preference pattern is also investigated. The
model is applied to fluid milk sales through markets in a market.

1.2 Problem Statement

Mobile brands imitate the name, logo, package design or even the products.
This is not a rare phenomenon, but a widespread occurrence in the current mobile
market. The imitation of mobiles can vary across different cases. Some mobile brands
are very transparent in their actions, while others are more subtle when it comes to
imitating the competition. However, mobile brands generally share a common goal,
which is to attempt to free-ride on positive brand-associations build by the copied
brand, often a brand leader, such as product quality. As imitations are often priced
below the leader brands, leader brands are at risk of suffering loss of sales or having
their brand equity damaged. Understanding young customers' thought process when
dealing with imitation would point us in the right direction to comprehend how brand
imitation functions and which factors are of influence. Previous studies have covered
various dimensions in the field of behavior and responses of consumers towards
different brands of mobiles and have explored the factors that influence consumer
evaluation of mobile phones. However, to the best of my knowledge, only a few
researches have been conducted on how brands affect the assessment of a competitor
when consumer behavior is present. It has been shown that brands create greater
resistance to persuasion tactics from competitors. The choice of the manufacture of
mobiles is affected by many factors, namely dual SIM, MP3 player, more storage,
cameras, charge in battery and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, handy one, less weight, slim model,

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price reduction, attractive colours, various models, audio and video system, service
facilities, spare parts availability and so on. In this context, this study has been
undertaken by the researcher to examine brands of mobiles that the consumers use.
The present study is considered relevant as the study has its own significance in the
recent technological era.

This study is pertaining to find out the customers’ preference in buying

different brands of mobiles in the study area. The study on customers' preference
helps to know who the consumers are, what they want, how they react to the brands.
So, the study has been justified to study the customers’ responses on different brands
of mobiles in Birendranagar of Surkhet.

1.3 Objectives

The general objective of the study is to explore the response of customers on

different mobiles in Birendranagar of Surkhet. The specific objectives of this study
are as follows:

i. To find out the influence of brands of mobiles on customers' preference.

ii. To identify the influence of price of mobiles on customers' preference.

iii. To find out the influence of lifestyle on customers' preference on buying mobiles.

iv. To identify the influence of function of the mobile phones on customers'

preference.

v. To analyze the influence of availability of the mobile phones on customers'

preference.

1.4 Rationale

This study aims to understand consumer brand preference developed from knowledge
and experience of the brand, and, in turn, its impact on future purchasing decisions.
To achieve this aim, the scope of the study is to identify the different brand factors
constituting consumer knowledge; that is, it focus on the brand added value at the
consumer level. In addition, it focuses on consumer descriptions of brand experiences,
presenting their response to various brand elements. Furthermore, the study focuses
on high-tech product, mobile phones, in developing countries as a promising market
for high-tech brands.

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1.5 Report Structure

This study will be organized within the following chapters:

Chapter I: Introduction

The first chapter includes the background of the study, problem statement,
objectives, rationale and report structure.

Chapter II: Related Literature Review

The second chapter includes the conceptual review, review of previous works
and research gap.
Chapter III: Methods

The third chapter consists of the methodologies which will be applied to carry
out the study. This chapter will include type of research, population and sample, types
of data, data collection procedure, instruments, techniques of analysis and limitations.
Chapter IV: Results and Findings
This chapter will include presentation of data in tables and figures and their
analysis and the major findings.
Chapter V: Discussion and Conclusion
The last chapter will include the discussion and conclusion of the study.
2. Literature Review
Consumers' relationships with brands are not all that different than
relationships with people. For marketers, understanding the difference between the
two kinds of relationships is essential to making sure to know how to deal with
customers. Marketers who realize this will be in a better position to retain customers
and improve the perceptions of consumers who are unhappy with a brand’s service or
product, according to researchers who recently studied the phenomenon. Some
customers are linked with the brand so tightly that they never choose the brands other
than their choice. So, brands have impacts on customer preference.

ii. Price of the Product

There is a direct relation between price and brand value. If there are two
identical items in a store but one is more expensive than the other, the first thing one
does is look for the reasoning behind it, and a lot of the time there are differences

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between the products. It doesn’t mean the more expensive one always wins the sale.
There are plenty of factors that go into a purchase decision, and price is only one of
them. If a product much higher than the other, one likes to take the one which is less
expensive. Thus, customer preference also depends upon the price of the product.

iii. Lifestyle

Lifestyle is an important aspect when looking at consumer choices. Just

because there may be two people with similar age and income, does not mean they’re
likely to purchase the same products. Life style is one of the key elements to how and
why people buy certain products and services. It affects the quality and quantity of
what people buy. The rich have more money to spend on higher quality products.
They may aim for good and popular brand names. Though the lower class will focus
more on necessities and focus on buying one nice outfit, but then spend more on food
and their home. Thus, lifestyle also impacts on customers’ preference.

iv. Function of the Product

The buying decision of customers also depend upon the function of the
product they are buying. In case of mobile phones, customers like the mobiles which
are full of various functions. Nowadays, android mobiles are very common with a lot
of features and functions. The android mobile phones with lot of functions are mostly
preferred by the young customers. Hence, function of mobiles also has impact on the
customer's preference.

v. Availability of the Product

The products which are highly available in the market are mostly liked by the
customers. Widely available products can be bought easily. So, the availability also
impacts on the customer's preference.

3. Methods

This section includes the detail of research methodology that has been used in
this report. It is concerned with formulating the plans and procedures, measurement
instrument development, methods for data collection, analysis and interpretation. The
chapter deals with justification the methodology used for finding solutions to the
research problems. The strategy of sampling design (i.e. universe of population,
sampling frame, and sample selection technique and sample size) has also been

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discussed in this chapter. It also describes the participating organization and outlines
the methods gathering the data, characteristics of data and statistical tools to be used
to analyze the data.

3.1 Type of Research

Research design is a master plan specifying the methods and procedures for
collecting and analyzing the needed information. It consists of the structure for the
collection, measurement and analysis of the research data and aims at allocation of
limited resources for the crucial choices in the methodology. Research design includes
structure of the research problems and the plans of investigation in order to obtain
empirical evidences to prove relationship between variables of research. The research
design that the researcher adopted in this study was the survey research design.
Survey refers to the collection of data through different methods such as interview or
questionnaire. This method is widely used in research process. With the help of
survey, one can easily analyze the individuals' opinion on certain topics. A survey
may focus on opinions or factual information depending on its purpose, but all
surveys involve administering questions to individuals. Survey research design is an
efficient method for systematically collecting data and generalization the result. In
this study, quantitative research design will be used.

3.2 Population and Sample

There are many auto rickshaws in Birendranagar of Surkhet. People are using
auto rickshaw as a comfortable means of transport. The target population of this study
is all those people who travel via auto rickshaw. Among the public, 55 will be selected
purposively. Sampling method is one of the important processes of sample selection
during survey. In statistics, sampling describes the process of selecting sample
elements from target population in order to conduct survey. In survey process,
sampling helps to describe and analyze the characteristics, attitudes of the target
population. The purpose of sampling is to secure a representative group which enables
the researcher to gain information about an entire population. Simple random
sampling method will be used to select the sample. The information will be collected
from auto riders. The sample size will be 55 public from whom the responses will be
obtained.

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3.3 Types of Data
Two types of data will be mainly used in this study which are as follows:
3.3.1 Primary Source
This research will use self-design questionnaires for the data collection. The
survey questionnaires will be justified because it will be affordable and effective way
of collecting information from a population in a short period of time and at a reduced
cost. The questionnaires also facilitate easier coding and analysis of data collection.
The closed ended questions ensure that the respondents will not be restricted to
certain categories in their responses. Thus, the major information of this research will
be collected through primary source.
3.3.2 Secondary Source
The secondary source of information will also be applied in this research. This
source will be used while preparing literature review and other places. The major
sources of secondary information will be website, books, journals, and articles.
3.4 Data Collection Procedure
The researcher will communicate individually with the auto riders and will
describe about the survey work. Then, the researcher will request to manage proper
time to fill up the questionnaire. The questionnaires will be distributed by the
researcher to the public who use auto rickshaw. The questionnaire will be related to
the personal information of the respondents and the questions related to subject
matter. After the filling up of questionnaires, they will be collected by the researcher
from the public.
3.5 Instruments
The questionnaire will be used as the main tool for data collection. The
questions will be self-developed, and some will be adopted from previous researches.
Most of the questions will be formulated in closed ended pattern. To collect the
personal information of the public, 55 questionnaires will be distributed. Among the
questionnaires, background related questions will be included. Other questions will be
related to the responses of the public towards the auto rickshaws.
3.6 Techniques of Analysis

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 For the analysis of data, frequency, percentages will be used to describe the
nature of data. After analysis of each question, the figures will be shown in
different table as per the requirement of the subject matter.
3.7 Limitations of the Study

Today's world is dynamic. Everything existing here are of limited characters.

Every principle, role, formula and conditions are applied within limitations. Likewise,
this study cannot escape from limitations. Therefore, the limitations of this study will
be as follows:

1. This study will be limited to the public in Birendranagar, Surkhet.

2. The respondents will be limited upto 55 only.

3. This study will be based on primary data.

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