The consuming behaviours of university students purchasing smartphones Dissertation

The consuming behaviours of university students purchasing smartphones - Dissertation Example This paper investigates into the consuming behaviour of the university students in the United Kingdom with regard to their purchase of smart phones. Three most significant factors have been identified through this research work that affect smart phone purchasing behaviour of this customer base. It has been product features (of smart phones) affect their purchasing decision the most. These consumers also attach huge importance to the brand name of the product that they are going to purchase. Branded smart phones are preferred by these customers since high brand value serve as an identification of superiority of the product as well as a symbol of status in the society and peer group. Price of the product is considered by the customers while they purchase a new smart phone, but, research shows that they are often willing to spend a large sum of money in order to obtain a smart phone of very high brand name. Table of Contents 4 Introduction 4 Literature review 6 Methodology 17 Research p roblem 17 Method of analysis 28 Quantitative Method 28 Qualitative method 29 Method of data collection 31 Sampling 34 Questionnaire survey 35 Ethical considerations 38 Limitations of the Research Methodology 39 Data analysis and interpretation of findings 40 Conclusion and recommendations 52 Reference List 54 Appendices 60 Introduction Smart phones are becoming an increasingly important device that is used by the average customer in the United Kingdom. According to research, the number of smart phone users in the UK is growing continuously and rapidly. Purchase and use of smart phones depends on a number of factors, such as, the tastes and preference of the individual customer, the income level of the customer, the previous usage history of mobile phones, age and gender of the customer as well as the education level of the individual. While the demographic features of the customer base affects the smart phone purchasing behaviour of the customer, attributes of the product also take an important position in the purchasing decision made by the customers. These attributes are the product features, looks and appearance of the phone, price of the item, relative price of the phone compared to the other smart phones offered by the competing firms, awareness among the peer group about the product or its brand, customer’s knowledge about the brand and customer loyalty toward the brand. It has been through recent research works that smart phone usage among adults decreases with age. Also, over the last decade, use of smart phone has increased among the female population by a considerably high extent. Since 2010, number of female customers of smart phone has increased significantly from the number in the beginning of the twentieth century. Among the student generation, there is almost equal number of female smart phone owners as the male smart phone owners (Solomon, et al., 2006). At present the mobile phone market has expanded geographically as well as economical ly. Smart phone usage has become a modern trend of the middle class population across all countries and demand for such device is rising constantly. Smart phones can perform a vast range of functions due to which this device has moved out of its identity of a mere mobile phone and has become the ‘personal assistance device’ (pda) for the users. Several smart phone manufacturing companies are rapidly gaining popularity through the products offered by them. Several companies operate internationally,