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Journal of Marketing and Consumer Research - An Open Access International Journal

Vol.2 2013

8

Consumer Buying Behavior of Mobile Phone Devices

Mesay Sata

School of Manageent an! Accounting" #a$assa %ni&ersity" ' O (o) 1883" #a$assa" *thiopia

*-ail+ esays,hu.e!u.et" ess2000,gail.co

Abstract

he purpose of this stu!y is to in&estigate the factors affecting the !ecision of uying oile phone !e&ices in

#a$assa to$n. In or!er to accoplish the o/ecti&es of the stu!y" a saple of 2 consuers $ere taen y

using siple ran!o sapling techniue. (oth priary an! secon!ary !ata $ere e)plore!. Moreo&er" si)

iportant factors i.e. price" social group" pro!uct features" ran! nae" !uraility an! after sales ser&ices $ereselecte! an! analy4e! through the use of correlation an! ultiple regressions analysis. 5ro the analysis" it $as

clear that consuer6s &alue price follo$e! y oile phone features as the ost iportant &ariale aongst all

an! it also acte! as a oti&ational force that influences the to go for a oile phone purchase !ecision. he

stu!y suggeste! that the oile phone sellers shoul! consi!er the ao&e entione! factors to euate the

opportunity.

Keywords7onsuer (uying (eha&ior" Moile 'hone" 7onsuer 'urchase ecision

!ntroduction

he !e&elopent of oile phones an! technologies has een an e)ten!e! history of inno&ation an!

a!&anceents croppe! up !ue to !ynaic changes in consuers6 nee!s an! preferences. Aong these

!e&elopents" oile phone !e&ices ha&e ha! one of the fastest househol! a!option rates of any technology inthe $orl!6s o!ern history 97oer an! :ile" 2008;. ?hang" 200>#uang" 200;.

Moile penetration in *thiopia is &ery lo$ $hen copare! to the other African countries 9esearch I7 Africa"

2010;. #o$e&er" there are 1 illion oile phone suscriers o$ning &arious ran!s of oile phone. uring

the oile phone uying !ecision process" these suscriers6 taes into account nuerous factors. #o$e&er"

researchers !e&ote! little attention to factors un!erlying the oile phone uying !ecision process in *thiopia.

his stu!y sees to no$ the factors that un!erlying a person6s !ecision in choosing ran! of oile phone9s; touse. At the en! of this stu!y" it $ill e possile to no$ the ost popular ran! of oile phone in #a$assa city.

"iterature Review

7onsuers are in!i&i!uals an! househol!s that uy the firs pro!uct for personal consuption 9Botler" 200;. It

often use! to !escrie t$o !ifferent in!s of consuing entities+ the personal consuers an! the organi4ationalconsuers9Brishna" 2010;. he acti&ities these consuers un!ertae $hen otaining" consuing" an! !isposing

of pro!ucts an! a ser&ice is no$n as consuer eha&ior. 7onsuer eha&ior in&ol&es stu!ying ho$ people uy"

$hat they uy" $hen they uy an! $hy they uy. :hen a consuer $ante! to ae the purchase !ecision" they

$ill pass through the process through recognition" search inforation" e&aluation" purchase" fee!ac 9(lac$ell"

Miniar!" an! *ngel" 200;. At last" the consuer $ill choose a pro!uct or ran! to consue fro &arious

choices in the aret. #o$e&er" these factors affecting the uying eha&ior of consuers &ary !ue to !i&erse

en&ironental an! in!i&i!ual !eterinants.

7onsuer uying eha&ior is influence! y t$o a/or factors. hese factors are in!i&i!ual an! en&ironental.

he a/or categories of in!i&i!ual factors affecting consuer eha&ior are !eographics" consuer Bno$le!ge"

perception" learning" oti&ation" personality" eliefs" attitu!es an! life styles. he secon! category of factors is

en&ironental factors. *n&ironental factors represent those ites outsi!e of the in!i&i!ual that affect

in!i&i!ual consuer6s !ecision aing process. hese factors inclu!e culture" social class" reference group"

faily an! househol!. he ao&e entione! factors are the a/or !eterinants ehin! the !ecision ofconsuers to opt a gi&en goo! or ser&ice 9(lac$ell" Miniar!" an! *ngel" 200;.

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*thiopia is a !e&eloping country an! has $itnesse! fast econoic gro$th an! !e&elopents in oile

telecounication penetration in recent years. ue to these reasons" there is a !ynaic increase in the nuer

of oile phone !e&ice users. his attracte! large nuer of international firs to enter into oile in!ustry an!

offer &arious ran!s of oile phones. #o$e&er" the choice of consuer is !i&erse !ue to &arious factors

associate! $ith consuer eha&ior. In this conte)t" it is iportant to stu!y the &arious factors $hich shape the

consuers in! !uring the purchase of oile phone !e&ices.

Accor!ing to Bar/aluoto et al. 9200D;" price" ran!" interface" an! properties ten!s to ha&e the ost influentialfactors affecting the actual choice aongst oile phone ran!s. =ing" #$ang an! Sal&en!y 9200@; sur&eye!

college stu!ents to i!entify their preference of their current oile phone. he results of their sur&ey in!icate!

that the physical appearance" si4e an! enu organi4ation of the oile phones are the ost !eterinant factors

affecting the choice of oile phones.

Mac an! Sharples 9200C; sho$e! that usaility in the ost iportant !eterinant of oile choice> other

attriutes particularly features" aesthetics an! cost are other factors that ha&e iplication on the choice of oile

phone ran!. In other stu!y con!ucte! y Buar 92012;" price" uality an! style functions as the ost influential

factors affecting the choice of oile phones. Moreo&er" Saif et al" 2012 selecte! four iportant factors i.e. price"

si4eEshape" ne$ technology features an! ran! nae an! analy4e! their ipact on consuers6 uying eha&ior.

Accor!ing to his result" consuer6s &alue ne$ technology features as the ost iportant &ariale that influences

consuers6 to go for a ne$ oile phone purchase !ecision.

*ric an! (right 92008; con!ucte! a stu!y on factors that !eterine the choice of ran!s of oile phone in

Fhana specifically Buasi Metropolis. Accor!ingly" the results of the stu!y sho$e! that the first ost iportantfactor is reliale uality of the oile phone ran! an! the other factor is user-frien!liness of the ran! of the

oile phone. =ie$ise" as 92012; con!ucte! an epirical research ase! on sur&ey etho! on factors

influencing uying eha&ior of youth consuers to$ar!s oile han!sets in coastal !istricts of O!isha locate!

in In!ia. Accor!ing to the stu!y" a han!set of repute! ran!" sart appearance" an! $ith a!&ance! &alue a!!e!

features" pleasuraility an! usaility> is the choice of young consuers> feales in gen!er-group" post-gra!uatesin le&el of e!ucation-group" stu!ents in occupational group" uran resi!ents in geographical area group plays

ost proinent role in uying !ecision of a oile han!set.

'aola et al. 92010; attepte! to in&estigate consuer purchasing oti&es in cellular phone arets. he results

in!icate! that $hile price an! properties $ere the ost influential factors affecting the purchase of a ne$ oile

phone" price" au!iility an! frien!s6 operator $ere regar!e! as the ost iportant in the choice of the oile

phone operator. As $ell" Saif 92012; analy4e! the factors affecting consuers6 choice of oile phone selectionin 'aistan. he results in!icate! that consuer6s &alue ne$ technology features as the ost iportant &ariale

aongst all an! it also acts as a oti&ational force that influences the to go for a ne$ han!set purchase!ecision.

Suraanya an! Venates$arlu 92012; con!ucte! a stu!y on factors influencing uyer eha&ior of oile

phone uyers in Ba!apa !istrict in In!ia. he researchers stu!ie! the &arious types of areting strategies

a!opte! y aret to acuire the attention an! cognition of oth e)isting an! potential custoers" an! to stu!y$hat role these areting strategies play in consuer uying process. Accor!ing to the results" incoe"

a!&ertising an! le&el of e!ucation in a faily are the !eterining factors of o$ning a oile phone set. Malasi

92012; e)aine! the influence of pro!uct attriutes on oile phone preference aong un!ergra!uate uni&ersity

stu!ents in Benya. he stu!y in!icate! that &arying the pro!uct attriutes6 has an influence on the un!ergra!uate

stu!ents6 preferences on oile phones. Various aspects of pro!uct an! ran! attriutes $ere consi!ere! such ascolor thees" &isile nae laels" an! oile phone $ith &ariety of o!els" pacaging for safety" !egree of

a$areness on safety issues" loo an! !esign of the phone.

(ase! on pre&ious research stu!ies an! literatures re&ie$e! the follo$ing conceptual frae$or an! research

hypothesis $ere !e&elope! for this research pro/ect. Accor!ingly" si) in!epen!ent &ariale 9i.e. price" socialfactors" !uraility" ran! nae" pro!uct features an! after sales ser&ices; thought to influence the !epen!ent

&ariale 9i.e. !ecision to y; are i!entifie!.

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#igure$ Conce%tual #ramework of the &tudy

he research is e)aine! through the follo$ing hypotheses+

'$+ he social factors ha&e a positi&e influence on the consuers6 oile phone uying !ecision.

'(+ uraility has a positi&e influence on consuers6 oile phone uying !ecision.

')+ 'rice has a positi&e effect on consuer6s oile phone uying !ecision.

'* After sales ser&ices influence consuers6 !ecision to acuire oile phones.'++ Moile phones features influence consuers6 !ecision to acuire oile phones.

Materials and Methods

his research $as con!ucte! in #a$assa city. #a$assa is locate! at @06 3066 latitu!e north an! 806 2C66east

longitu!e also locate! south of A!!is at 2@D . (ase! on the 200@ 7ensus con!ucte! y the 7entral Statistical

Agency of *thiopia" #a$assa has a total population of 2D8"808" of $ho 133"123 are en an! 12D"8D $oen.

he stu!y is aie! at i!entifying factors ehin! consuers6 !ecision to purchase oile phones in #a$assa city.

he people in the #a$assa are ostly eployees $oring for pulic" pri&ate or nongo&ernental organi4ations.

#ence" the stu!y population constitutes of all the oile phone o$ners foun! in #a$assa city. In or!er to select

the saple respon!ents" siple ran!o sapling etho! $as eploye!. his etho! aes all the eers of

the population an eual chance to e inclu!e! in the saple. Once a sapling techniue has een chosen the

ne)t step is to calculate the appropriate si4e of the saple. he iniu reuire! saple si4e for this stu!y is

specifie! y using the 7ochran 91C@@; saple si4e !eterination forula+

( )( ) 28.02.00D.0

C.12

=

=

= pq

e

zn

In this stu!y" oth uantitati&e an! ualitati&e !ata $ere use!. he ualitati&e !ata $as otaine! fro the

priary sources of !ata. On the other han!" the uantitati&e !ata $as collecte! fro oth priary an! secon!ary

sources of !ata. he priary !ata $as collecte! through a!inistrating uestionnaire. he secon!ary !ata $as

otaine! fro reports" anuals" an! !ifferent /ournals" pulications for assessing e)isting fin!ings" internet"

oos an! !ocuents.

he ain instruent of !ata collection $as uestionnaire. he structure! uestionnaire itself $as !esigne! so as

to ae it easy to ans$er an! to co&er ost of the coon research uestions. 5urtherore" the uestionnaire$as !esigne! so as to elicit inforation on oth !eographic an! pro!uct use aspects of the respon!ents. he

uestionnaire $as translate! in to local language 9i.e. Aharic; for easy un!erstan!ing an! siplicity.

In this research pro/ect" the uestionnaire $as pre-teste! on a nuer of respon!ents $ho $ere siilar to those

$ho $ere to e inclu!e! in the stu!y in ters of acgroun! characteristics in or!er to ensure that the

instructions an! the eanings of the uestions $ere siple" clear" unaiguous an! eneficial to the su/ects. Atotal of si) in!i&i!uals $ere participate! in the pilot stu!y. 7hanges $ere a!e accor!ingly an! the input of

these in!i&i!uals $as taen into consi!eration.

o eet the specifie! research o/ecti&es" oth ualitati&e an! uantitati&e !ata analysis $ere use! for the stu!y

purpose. (oth !escripti&e an! inferential statistics etho!s of !ata analysis $ere eploye!. escripti&e

statistics lie freuency !istriutions" graphs" charts" cross-taulations an! inferential statistics lie correlation

an! ultiple regressions $as use! to elicit eaningful inforation. he !ata entry an! analysis $as perfore!y using Microsoft *)cel an! Statistical 'acage for Social Science 9S'SS; &ersion 20.

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Results and Discussion

uring the sur&ey" 2 uestionnaires $ere !istriute! to purposi&ely selecte! oile phones shops 9centers; in

#a$assa to$n. %nfortunately 22 uestionnaires $ere not respon!e! appropriately. So the analysis $as a!e

ase! on 231 respon!e! uestionnaires. he tale elo$ !eals $ith the asic !eographic characteristics of the

respon!ents inclu!ing age" gen!er" incoe" arital status" e!ucational ualification an! occupation of the

respon!ents inclu!e! in this research pro/ect.

,able $ Demogra%hic Characteristics of Res%ondents-Ite

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Journal of Marketing and Consu

Vol.2 2013

#igure ( ,y%e of Mobile Phone B

he least o$ne! oile ran!s are.DG of the respon!ents6 oile p$ith affor!ale prices that ae th

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selling price of the cellular !e&ice. Accor!ingly" the price of a pro!uct is an iportant factor that cannot e

o&erlooe! in a stu!y of consuer eha&ior. Ma/ority of the respon!ents in!icate! price as ain consi!eration

$hen they !eci!e to uy their oile phone. he &ariation in oile price $ill influence the eha&ior of

in!i&i!uals to purchase the !e&ice. he results of this research stu!y coinci!e $ith the result of other stu!ies

con!ucte! in the consuer uying !ecision of oile phones. Accor!ing to Saif 92012;" a stu!y con!ucte! in

'aistan" price $as &alue! as the ost oti&ating factor in oile purchase !ecision. Moreo&er" the stu!y

con!ucte! y 'aola et al. 92010; in 5inlan! regar!e! price as the ost iportant oti&e affecting the !ecisionto purchase oile phones.

Table 3: Pearson Correlation Result of the Variable

Variales ecision to (uy

'rice 'earson 7orrelation .C00

Sig. 92-taile!; .000

< 231

Social Influence 'earson 7orrelation .1


< 231

uraility 'earson 7orrelation .DD@


< 231

(ran! as" 2012> Saif" 2012> Malasi" 2012> *ric an!

(right" 2008; that consi!ers the features of oile phone as a !oinant factor in consuer uying !ecision.

he other t$o factors eually correlate! an! ha&e o!erate relationships $ith the !ecision to uy are ran!

nae an! !uraility of oile phones $ith 'earson correlation coefficient of 0.DD@ an! 0.DDD respecti&ely. (oth

factors are highly associate! $ith the uality of a gi&en pro!uct. uraility is associate! $ith the use of a oile!e&ice for a long perio! $ithout any !efects. #igh uality oile phone $ors $ell an! nothing goes $rong for

a long perio! of tie. Other siilar stu!ies also in!icate! that consuers prefer internationally recogni4e! an!

$ell no$n ran!s of oile phone 9as" 2012> ?hou an! Shanturo&sa" 2011;. Accor!ing the tale 3" the

least correlate! an! o!erately relate! !eterinants of consuer uying !ecisions are social influences an! after

sales ser&ices $ith 'earson correlation coefficient of 0.1 an! 0.D respecti&ely. hese t$o factors o!erately

influence the !ecision to uy a oile phone !e&ice. #o$e&er" their !egree of correlation is the least as

copare! to other factors inclu!e! in this stu!y. his result can e /ustifie! $ith siilar stu!ies con!ucte! on

the factors affecting the choice of oile phones 9Suraanya an! Venates$arlu" 2012> 'aola et al." 2010;.

Multiple egressions Analysis

In this stu!y" there are si) in!epen!ent &ariales naely price" after sales ser&ice" ran! nae" social influence"

!uraility an! pro!uct features consi!ere! to influence the uying !ecision of oile phone !e&ices. (efore

analy4ing the !ata using ultiple regressions" it is appropriate to test the presence of ulticollinearity aong the

in!epen!ent &ariales. It in!icate! that the a)iu correlation coefficient is 0.@2 that represent less liely tofin! ulticollinearity aong the in!epen!ent &ariale.

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o test the effects of these &ariales on the !ecision to uy a oile phone !e&ice" the stu!y use! the ultiple

regression analysis. he tale elo$ sho$s the ultiple regression result et$een si) in!epen!ent &ariales an!

the !ecision to purchase a oile phone !e&ice in #a$assa. It in!icates that all the si) in!epen!ent &ariales

9price" social influence" !uraility" ran! nae" pro!uct feature an! after sales ser&ice; coine! significantly

influence the consuers uying !ecision of oile phone !e&ices. he lea!ing factor is price follo$e! y

pro!uct features an! !uraility.

Table 4: Multiple Regression Results of Dependent and Independent Variables

Mo!el

%nstan!ar!i4e! 7oefficients

Stan!ar!i4e!

7oefficients

t Sig.( St!. *rror (eta

97onstant; -.C .22D -3.08C .003

'rice .D8C .08 .D2D @.028 .000

Social Influence .0 .0D3 .02 1.23 .211

uraility .112 .02 .10@ 1.82 .02

(ran!

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References (lac$ell" " Miniar!" ': K *ngel" J5 9200;. 7onsuer eha&ior" 10th e!n" hoson South-

:estern" (oston. 7ochran" :. F. 91C@@;. Sapling techniues 93

r!e!.;.

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