Consumer Behavior Project on

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR OF MOBILE HANDSETS

Fr. Casimir Raj

Report by 206: Anmol Rohatgi | 220: Heemanish Mide | 260: Vivek Rajgopal

October 10, 2008 Xavier Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai Mumbai University

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Fr. Casimir Raj for providing us with an opportunity to work on this project. We are also grateful for his support and guidance provided through the completion of the project. We are also thankful to all the people directly or indirectly involved in completing this project. This includes the 100 respondents who were patient and cooperative in responding to our questionnaires. And finally we are thankful to the staff in the library that helped us in getting resources for our secondary information.

- Anmol Rohatgi, Heemanish Mide, Vivek Rajgopal

Executive Summary

The concept of buying behavior is of prime importance in marketing and has evolved over the years. It is important to understand consumer buying behavior as it plays a vital role in crating an impact on purchase of products. The human wants are unlimited and always expect more and more. Mobile handsets are no exception to this behavior. This lead to constant modifications of mobile handsets and today we see a new model coming into the market practically every month. In this research study our findings gave us thorough insights of consumer buying behavior of mobile handsets. We find that consumers consider various parameters while buying mobile handsets. Factors such as price and functions availing and the utility and its hedonic aspects our considered very important We have been able to also infer that people sub consciously register the brand, tend to recall. We also come to understand that most dealers have showed a tendency to market the mobile handset which as per consumers requirement. On the whole, the market is a very important place to study the behavior of consumers and also provide useful insights what a consumer requires in a product. It is only through research that an company will be able to study the buying behavior of consumers.

Index
1. CONCEPTUAL FOUNDATION 1. Consumer Behavior 2. MOBILE INDUSTRY IN INDIA 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3. DATA ANALYSIS 1. Understanding Consumer Behavior 2. Understanding Brand Preference 3. Other observations 4. Hypothesis 3. RECOMMENDATIONS 4. CONCLUSION 5. Bibliography & Webliography 6. Annexures

1 Conceptual Foundation
The Consumer is not a Moron.She is your Wife.Complex and Smart.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Not understanding your consumers motivations needs and preferences can hurt. The aim of marketing is to meet and satisfy target consumers needs and wants. The field of consumer behavior studies how individuals or groups of individuals select, buy, use and dispose of goods or services. Understanding consumer behavior and knowing consumers is not simple. Consumers may say one thing and do another. They may not be in touch with their deeper motivations. They may respond to influences that change their minds at the last minute. But studying consumers provides clues for developing new products, product features, prices and altering marketing strategies accordingly. Let us try and understand the buyer behavior process.

Problem Recognition: Perceiving a Need

Information Search: Seeking Value

Alternative Evaluation: Assessing Value

Purchase Decision: Buying Value

Post purchase Behavior: Value in Consumption or Use

Problem Recognition The buying process starts when the buyer recognizes a problem or need. The need can be triggered by internal or external stimuli. Marketers need to identify the circumstances that trigger a particular need. By gathering information from a number of consumers, marketers can identify the most frequent stimuli that spark an interest in a product category. They can then develop marketing strategies that trigger consumer interest. Information Search An aroused consumer will be inclined to search for more information. Consumer information sources fall into four groups Personal Sources: Family, Friends, Neighbors, Acquaintances Commercial Sources : Advertising, Salespersons, Dealers, Packaging, Displays Public Sources : Mass Media, Consumer-Rating Organisations Experiential Sources : Handling, Examining, Using the Product Knowing about the sources will help the companies in preparing effective communications for the target market. Alternative Evaluation How does the consumer evaluate competitive brands and make a final value judgment? There is no single process used by all consumers or by one consumer in all buying situations. But some basic concepts will help us in understanding consumer evaluation processes. First, the consumer is trying to satisfy a need. Second, the consumer is looking for certain benefits from the product solution. Third, the consumer sees each product as a bundle of attributes with varying abilities for delivering the benefits sought to satisfy this need.

Purchase Decision In the evaluation stage, the consumer forms preferences among the brands in the choice set. The consumer may also form an intention to buy the most preferred brand. However, two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase decision. The first factor is the attitudes of others and the second factor is unanticipated situational factors such as loss of income, some other urgent purchase etc. In executing a purchase intention, the consumer may make up to five purchase sub-decisions, Brand decision Vendor decision Quantity decision Timing decision Payment-method decision Post-Purchase Behavior After purchasing the product, the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. The marketers job thus, does not end when the product is brought. Marketers must monitor post-purchase satisfaction, post-purchase actions and post-purchase product uses.

AN EXAMPLE OF A PURCHASE BEHAVIOR BY A CONSUMER IS GIVEN BELOW Problem Recognition The need was recognized when my old mobile phone stopped working. I was using Nokia 5200 and suddenly it stopped working and when given for repair, I was informed that the mobile can not be repaired. The process of getting my mobile repaired took some 10 days i.e. for almost 10 days I was without a mobile phone. The need was felt when it was my birthday and I was not able to be in touch with my friends and family. Since I use my mobile even to surf my mails and internet I was not even able to do that. All this caused a lot of in convince and finally I had to go for a new mobile phone. Information Search For me my mobile phone is a high involvement product. Since am a student with limited disposable income I purchase a mobile once in a wile. I dont change my mobile set unless and until it stops working and therefore at the time of making a decision to buy a new mobile I went through all the various mobile phones available in my budget and of my preferred brand. i always look for various offers and even compared rates at various stores and mobile dealers. Alternative Evaluation In identifying the various alternatives I went through various mobiles available of my preferred brand. I even discussed with my family members and friends about which mobile do they recommend. I met various dealers and stores to know the latest Nokia launches and various offers available with all these dealers. No check out the rates and features I even visited various web sites where I compared all the features and prices of various brands available in my budget. Since I am a Nokia loyalist so I never preferred changing my mobile brand. although the other brand offers were really tempting but they were still not able to influence me to change my brand. The only issue was which mobile model I should go for. There were various mobiles available and were almost similar apart from some features difference and design. Finally I decided to go for Nokia 3120 which was economical, had a good design, was Nokia latest launch and was satisfying almost all my needs i.e. it was a 3g phone so apt for internet surfing and with all the latest features.

Purchase Decision Finally the action taken by me was purchasing Nokia 3120. The mobile store had am offer of getting a hand free on every purchase but some how that model was not available with them. i waited for few days and then I finally bought the mobile from e store. Although that hands free offer was not available but that was urgency since I was not able to avoid the need of having a mobile. Post Purchase Behaviour Am using the mobile since past 2 months and till now am quits content with my decision. Its working pretty well and is apt for me.

2 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 also 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.8.05billion (US $2billion) as of 2004/05 and will surge by 62% with approximately 100-million subscribers nationwide by 2007. It is also learnt that the Indian mobile 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 is increasing with the increasing tele-density. The market is overloaded with the number of mobile handset providers due to which the customer is able to bargain for a reasonable price for the mobile. The various players are Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel, Panasonic, Siemens, BenQ, Mitsubishi ,Philips ,NEC ,Sagem ,LG ,Sharp, Sendo, Innostream, Pantech, VK Mobile, Palm, O2, i-mate, Qtek, BlackBerry, Haier, Bird, Eten, HP and XCute. 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 for large chunks. In addition, recent changes imbibed in the government policies that price mobile handsets at a lower end with flexible custom-duty for new entrants are startling the market with multiple models largely

aimed to higher and middle-income groups. Industry sources, though, view the market to be at its nascent stage, many large EMS (Electronic Manufacturing Services) companies are seriously considering setting up their handset facilities in India. MAJOR PLAYERS Nokia A world leader in mobile communications, Nokia has established itself as the leading preferred brand in many markets. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, Nokia is the world's leading supplier of mobile phones, fixed, mobile and IP networks. Nokia offers a line of versatile business phones incorporating mobile voice, mobile messaging, email solutions and business-critical applications and all the latest applications to meet the needs of different user groups. Samsung Samsung manufactures leading models in all segments of the mobile handset market. The company's aim is to launch a slew of mobile phones with unique features that satisfy different customer and market segments. Samsung's key insight is that apart from technology and functionality, a critical factor for generating customer preference would be 'glamour' and 'innovation'. Innovation is just one of the things that have kept Samsung at the top of the mobile market. The conglomerate has made great strides in customer satisfaction through a strong local presence via a dual partner distribution strategy. It has an all-pervasive supply chain that delivers greater value to over 5,000 sales points and retailers. Motorola Motorola offers market-changing icons of personal technology - transforming the device formerly known as the cell phone into a universal remote control for life. A leader in multi-mode, multi-band communications products and technologies, Mobile Devices designs, manufactures, sells and services wireless subscriber and server equipment for cellular systems, portable energy storage products and systems, servers and software solutions and related software and accessory products.

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Sony Ericsson Their mission is to establish Sony Ericsson as the most attractive and innovative global brand in the mobile handset industry. Their latest technological applications make them stand at the forefront of innovation. [Annexure 1]

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2
Market Research on Consumer Behavior

PURPOSE OF STUDY
The purpose of the study is to find the Consumer Buying Behavior of Mobile Handsets

SCOPE OF STUDY
There are more than 28 Brands of Mobile phones available ion the market. Within each brand there are various models, each with different attributes and functions. This research will open the doors of the consumer buying behaviour of a mobile handset.

RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
To find the Consumer Buying Behavior of Mobile Handsets

RESEARCH DESIGN
This is a Descriptive Market Research. This research will explore the consumers behavior towards buying a mobile handset.

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3 Research Methodology
DATA COLLECTION The secondary data study gave us insights on understanding consumer buying behavior and various concepts on purchase of mobile handsets. Primary data will be collected through Questionnaire SAMPLING We have used the Convenience Sampling Method. The primary sample of 100 in which 50 were working professionals and the rest 50 are students. From our sample size we came to understand that mobile handsets which came up with latest handsets would be preferred by students and the younger segment of the working professionals. However in case of working professionals over the age 35 give more priority to handsets which provide maximum utility and a very sophisticated look. HYPOTHESES To further prove our analysis we had taken three hypotheses into consideration which proved vital in understanding the buying behavior of mobile handsets and the preference for the purchase of mobile handsets. To prove the hypothesis, two different statistical tests were used, Z-test and ChiSquare test. A test survey was conducted for the assumptions made in Chi-Square and Z-test. Through the entire process of our study we also came to understand the brand preference and the brand recall of Nokia is higher as compared to the rest in the mobile handset industry in India.

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4 Analysis
UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR Let us begin with the foremost reason why consumers buy a particular mobile handset. The word is out and its simple, Consumers buy a particular handset more for its utility than for its aesthetics. We found that about 76% expect maximum utility out of the cell phones. According the sample population we find that almost 80% of the sample size expects value for money. There was another set of population, which expected hedonic aspects the reason being external appearance being of core importance. [Annexure 2] Major Influencers The purchase of any product gets influenced by different factors which might range from a group of people insisting to buy the product to the promotional schemes luring the consumers to make the purchase. The adjacent exhibit shows us the various influencers in a radar or web format with the center point having the least percentage i.e. 0 % and increasing upwards along each strand in the web. If you observe, friends and family play a important role in influencing a student in buying a handset whereas, the working professionals get more influenced by promotional offers and advertisements. Surprisingly, unlike what many would have assumed, distributor does not play any role in buying a handset as none of the respondents from either of the groups believe distributor can influence them to buy a handset. [Annexure 3]

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The Possible Reason here could be that, because students still do not have the purchasing power in their hands, whether to buy a new mobile handset or not largely depends upon how much their friends insist them for buying it and how much the family supports them in making the actual purchase. Whereas, for a working professional, though friends and family do influence to some extent, their major influence is promotions and advertisements considering which they can decide on their own whether to go for a handset or not. [Annexure 4] Influential Factors Again, if we try and study the factors that influence the most in the purchase of a handset, we find that for both the groups, cost and features hold important place, followed by brand name and other factors such as service centers available and the resale value they can get from a particular brand. The only minor difference here is that, in case of students, cost is the most important factor with almost 40% picking this option followed by features. Whereas, for professionals features stand out more important (42%) than cost. So if a company wants to target a group of people to make a shift from their current handset to their brand, it should focus more on reducing cost and improving its features as these are the two most important factors people would consider while buying a mobile handset. Now, to consider, why would people want to shift from their current handset to another one. The probable reasons to shift from one brand of handset to another are up-grading to a new technology, unhappy with the current handset, lost or damaged or any other reasons. When asked to a group of working professionals and non-earning students, the responses from both groups were similar with only minor differences. While a major percentage (68% for professionals and 52% for students) in both groups agreed that they would shift to another handset just for up gradation, many students also believed that the reason to shift from one handset to another is only because of the loss or damage of the current one. But considering Up-gradation is still the number one reason within both groups, handset companies can concentrate on upgrading their handsets and become more competitive to the other brands in the market. This would certainly help them, to some extent, in shifting brand loyalty from competitive brands to their own handsets. [Annexure 5]

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Promotional Schemes Promotional schemes and discounts are considered a very important factor in shaping the buying behaviour of consumers. But do promotional schemes play a role for mobile handsets? The answer to this could be dicey. When asked a 100 people whether they would post-pone or pre-pone their decision of buying a handset if they knew a promotional scheme was on the way, most respondents (almost 44%) gave a negative nod to it. And only 24% said they would definitely wait and make use of the promotional scheme. A large number, almost 32% also said that it would depend how far or near the time is to make use of the promotional discounts. If it is quite near, say 1-2 months away, they would wait for it or else just buy whenever they feel the need. If we get carried away by the 44% figure and say that promotional schemes are probably not important for handsets, we might be being very pessimistic. This result also shows the importance of having a good promotional scheme and the importance of timing in launching promotional schemes. If the promotional scheme is good enough and launched at regular intervals most people (56% adding 24% and 32%) would want to wait for it and make use of it. And finally, consumers tend to shift to newer technology over the years and would want to upgrade to a new model due to newer technology available. Also we found that a major proportion of population tends to shift to newer models in less than 2 years. [Annexure 6, 7]

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UNDERSTANDING BRAND PREFERENCE Current Handset Across the mobile handset industry in India we find that Nokia has been the most dominant player in the industry in the Indian market and boasts of a market share of 75%. The below exhibit gives a clear picture of the share of handset brands within the respondents participated in our research. Nokia is a straight winner with almost 73 % of the respondents currently using Nokia. This further proves the overall market share of Nokia handsets in India. Other brands such as LG, Sagem, BenQ, etc together hold the second position with 11%, followed by Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Motorola. [Annexure 8] Brand Recall Our research tried to study the most recalled brand of handset in the minds of consumers, and the result, as would look obvious was Nokia, with almost 95% recalling Nokia. When asked which, is the next brand that they were able to recall, Samsung was a close fighter, being the second most recalled brand with almost 34% respondents mentioning the brand. Semantic Differential Semantic Differential is a tool used to compare two of more brands along different parameters. As can be seen in the following exhibit, Nokia gets full marks for all the parameters whereas the other brands are only little behind with Sony Ericsson and Motorola getting almost similar scores along three parameters. However, Motorola can work a little better on its distribution network. Probably it can come out with more service centers or better service facilities within its service centers. The following exhibit shows bi-polar scaling for 4 different parameters on a rating of -2 to 2, -2 being the least preferred and 2 being the most preferred. [Annexure 9]

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Strength Character Analysis Strength Character Analysis is used to measure the hold of the brand in the market and the positive image for a brand in the market. The Strength criterion is measured in the following way. If a 100 people are asked to mention any brand they can recall, then the Strength of the brand would be

No. of Mentions Strength = No of Respondents The Character criterion is measure in the following way. If a 100 people are asked to mention any brand that they think is having a particular good feature/factor, then the Character of the brand would be, No. of Positive Mentions Character = No of Mentions Let us do the Strength Character Analysis for the brand Nokia which is supposedly the most strong brand amongst all other brands of handsets. When 100 respondents were asked to mention any brand that they could recall, around 95 people mentioned Nokia and only 5% mentioned other brands. Hence, Strength = (95 / 100) * 100 = 95 % * 100 * 100

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When the 100 respondents were asked to mention any brand which they thought were cost effective and gives maximum features, around 85 respondents mentioned Nokia and remaining mentioned other brands. Hence, Character = (85 / 95) * 100 = 89%

We now try and plot Nokia in the Strength Character Matrix. In both, Strength and Character, Nokia has high values, so it falls in the lower-right box. And the strategy suggested in the same, is to Maintain. Nokia should try and maintain its strategies so that its position in the market remains stable and doesnt fall. STRENGTH CHARACTER Low High Low Lie Low Gain Attention High Change Image Maintain

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OTHER OBSERVATIONS Current Handset v/s Preferred Handset The below given exhibit has linked the current handset usage to what the consumers would prefer in the future. Most respondents want to shift to Nokia in the future irrespective of what they are using right now, say Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Motorola or others. An interesting observation here is, among the current users of Sony Ericsson, there are around 18% want to stay with the same brand while the remaining want to shift to Nokia. Surprisingly, there is also a group of Nokia users (around 12-15 %) which wants to shift to Sony Ericsson as their next handset.

100 90 80 70

% O f R e s p o n d e n ts

60 50 40 30 20 10 0 S a m su n g S o n y E ri c sso n N o ki a M o t o ro l a O t h e rs

Pre f e rre d Ha n d s e t
N o ki a S o n y E ri c sso n

Curre nt Han ds et

Demand for Nokia has been great in the Indian market and seems will be quite good in the future as well. But players like Sony Ericsson if become more aggressive, which, though sounds far fetched, can pose a problem to Nokia.

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Linking Consumer Behavior to Brand Preference It is said that there is a direct relationship between Consumer Buying Behaviour and the brand that they prefer. This was further proved from one of the results of our study. When the influential factors in buying a brand were linked to the preferred brand by consumers, certain interesting facts came out. Out of the 100 who said cost is the most important factor they consider while purchasing a handset, almost 85% preferred the brand Nokia followed by Sony Ericsson. This shows Nokia sells itself at the right price and therefore cost-conscious people prefer Nokia.

100 90 80 70

% O f R e s p o n d e n ts

60 50

B r a n d P r e fe r e n c e
40 30 20 10 0

O th e r s M o t o r o lla S o n y E r ic s s o n N o k ia Cost F e a tu r e s R e s a le V a lu e S e r v ic e C e n te r s B rand Nam e

Im p o r ta n t F a c to r

Similar is the case for other factors such as Features, Resale Value, Brand Name and Service Centers available. Nokia is preferred in almost all cases. This shows the strength of the brand in all these factors which has been possible because of the time it has spent in the market and the experience it has gained about the consumers in the market. Interestingly, the second brand in line after Nokia for Resale Value is Motorola i.e., out of 100 people who are influenced by resale value while purchasing a brand, around 65% prefer Nokia and the remaining 35% prefer Motorola.

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HYPOTHESIS Research Question 1 Who influences the consumer the most while taking a purchase decision? Hypothesis: 1 H0: p0 0.5 i.e. 50% of the population is influenced by friends and family while purchasing a mobile handset. H1: p1 i.e Less than 50% of the population is influenced by family and friends while purchasing a handset. Therefore it is a Two Tail Test. Applying Z test using SEP Particulars n p (claim) q P SEP Z-cal Z-tab Values 100 0.5 0.5 0.53 0.05 0.6 1.645

A test survey was carried out before the main survey and as per the results; p is assumed to be 0.5. Since Zcal<Ztab, we accept H0 i.e. more than 50% of the population are influenced by friends and family while purchasing a mobile handset. Our research also showed that 21% is influenced by advertisement and 26% by promotional schemes. Out of the people influenced by promotional schemes most of them are working professionals.

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Research Question: 2 What are the most important factors for a consumer while taking a purchase decision? Hypothesis: 2 H0: p0 0.5 i.e. 50% of the target population consider cost and features as important factors while purchasing a mobile handset. H1: p1 i.e. less than 50% of the target population consider cost and features as important actors while purchasing a mobile handset. Therefore it is a Two Tail Test. Applying Z test using SEP A test survey was carried out before the main survey and as per the results; p is assumed to be 0.75. Particulars n p (claim) q P SEP Z-cal Z-tab Values 100 0.75 0.25 0.79 0.043301 0.92376 1.645

Since Zcal<Ztab, we accept H0 i.e. for more than 50% of the population cost and features are important factors while purchasing a mobile handset. Our research also showed that 14% of the population considers brand name most important while purchasing a mobile handset most of which constitutes college going students.

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Research Question: 3 Is there a relationship between occupation of a person and features of a mobile handset? Hypothesis: 3 H0: There exists no relationship between occupation of a person and features of a mobile handset. H1: There exists a relationship between occupation of a person and features of a mobile handset. Applying Chi-Square Test, the results are as follows,

Occupation Features Outlook Voice Display Students Professionals TotaltTotal 38 33 36 37 25 32 77 171 75 58 68 184 385

OBSERVED 38 33 36 107 37 25 32 77

EXPECTED (O-E)2 41.69 32.24 37.8 102.28 41.69 32.23 37.8 102.27 13.6 0.58 3.23 22.32 22 52.27 33.64 638.57

(OE)2/E 0.33 0.02 0.09 0.22 0.53 1.62 0.89 6.24

Functions 107 Total 214

CAL 2TAB

9.93 7.815

Since 2CAL> 2TAB we reject H0. Therefore there exists a relationship between occupation and features of a mobile handset. Our studies showed that the working professionals were not much concerned with cell features in comparison with college going studies. As per our research most of the professionals in the age group 35 and above preferred a mobile phone with fewer features. This could be because mobiles with few features are less complicated .It is also a fad for students to posses a mobile with more features.

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5 Recommendations
The survey and analysis that we have conducted has brought out certain interesting facts and given insights into the buyer behaviour in case of mobile handsets. Using these insights we suggest a few recommendations to the handset brands to beat the ever-winning brand Nokia and a few recommendations to Nokia on how it can maintain its position in the market. How Can You Beat Nokia ?

Focus On Product & Price In the analysis we found the major influential factors are Cost and Features while purchasing a mobile handset, with more than 40 % people mentioning it as the major influential factors. Cost and Features are parameters of Price and Product respectively. It is recommended that companies concentrate more on developing these two Ps and spend more time on enhancing their products at offer it at lower prices which can be done by employing cost-reduction measures. Be a Technology Driven Company When asked if they would upgrade to a new handset due to this innovative technology, a majority of 70% people gave a positive nod. This implies that people attracted towards newer technology and will be able to shift from one handset to another if it uses better technology. Brands such as Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG can dream of catching up with Nokia if they put more efforts on improving their technology. They can spend more in R&D and less on promotions which would help them in developing innovative products which would sell itself without much promotion. Utility more importantAesthetics come second

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A whopping 76% said they would buy a mobile handset for the utility it provides rather than for its aesthetics. Even in the Product, companies should concentrate more on the internal features, i.e. functions it can offer rather than the display or color of the handset. Nokia as placed itself as the brand which offers maximum features in reasonable prices. So if you want to reach Nokias position, this is one focus area the companies can consider to work upon. How Can Nokia Maintain Its Position? As we have seen in the Strength Character Analysis, Nokia is a very strong brand and lies in a comfortable position as of now. Nokia is already a market leader. But it needs to hold its position in the market. In one of our analysis, we found that some of the users of Sony Ericsson want to stay with the same brand and few other users who were using different brands such as Motorola, Samsung wanted to shift to Sony Ericsson. To fight players such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia has to maintain its present strategies or else they might become a threat in the future.

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6 Conclusion
This project has helped us in understanding the behavior of consumers towards mobile handsets and what they prefer in different brands. Nokia stands out as a clear winner. It is because of the experience it has in the market. Handset buying is a high involvement product wherein the consumer wants to know from different sources about brands, though Nokia is the first name that comes to their minds. Word of mouth plays an important role in such products and therefore it is important for the product to be of important quality. Companies should therefore concentrate more on developing the first P and make it available at reasonable and reachable prices. So the product itself becomes the promotion for the brand.

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Bibliography & Webliography

BIBILIOGRAPHY MARKETING MANAGEMENT BY PHILIP KOTLER CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOURMARKET RESEARCH-NARESH MALHOTRA

WEBLIOGRAPHY

www.nokia.com www.samsung.com www.sonyericsson.com

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Annexure
Annexure 1

MARKET SHARE OF MAJOR MOBILE HANDSET PLAYERS

7% 2% 10% 7% 60% 14% NOKIA SAMSUNG MOTOROLA SONY ERICSSON LG OTHERS

Annexure 2

Preferred Aspects Aesthetic 24%

Utilitarian 76%

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Annexure 3

Friends
30 20

Major Influencers

Promotion

10 0

Family
Students Professionals

Distributor

Advertisements

Annexure 4

Reasons To Shift
100 80 % U sers 60 40 20 0 Upgradation
8 68 52 14 14 32 8 4

Unhappy

Lost/Damaged Reasons

Others

Students

Professionals

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Annexure 5

Influential Factors 100 80 % Users 60 40 20 0 Students Professionals Segments 2 40 36 16 6 4 40 42 12 Cost Features Resale Value Brand Name 2 Service Center

Annexure 6

UPGRADATION DUE TO TECHNOLOGY

100 % USERS 80 60 40 20 0 yes RESPONSES no 70 30

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Annexure 7

PRE/POSTPONING DECISION DUE TO PROMOTIONAL SCHEMES

100 % USERS 80 60 40 20 0 yes no RESPONSES depends

44 24 32

Annexure 8

CURRENT HANDSET USERS

100 90 80 70 % USER 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 samsung sony ericsson nokia BRANDS motorola others

73

11 1

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Annexure 9

User Friendly

-2

-1

Cost

-2

-1

Distribution

-2

-1

Brand Image

-2

-1

Sony Ericsson & Samsung

Nokia Motorola

*****

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