Dissertation Student Mobile Phone Market Singapore

UNIVERSITY OF WALES INSTITUTE, CARDIFF
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
DISSERTATION
A study of student mobile phone market

in Singapore
Chen Qi
Student ID: 07004691
Supervisor: Mr. David Goh
March 11, 2009

Declaration
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not
being concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree.
Signed ………………………………………………………. (Candidate)
Date ……………………………………………………….
Statement 1
This dissertation is being submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the
degree of MBA.
Date ……………………………………………………….
Statement 2
This dissertation is the result of my own independent work / investigation, except
where otherwise stated. Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit
references. A bibliography is appended.
Date ……………………………………………………….
Statement 3
I hereby give my consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for
photocopying and for interlibrary loan, and for the title and summary to be made
available to outside organizations.
Date ……………………………………………………….
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Acknowledgement
Though only my name appears on the cover of this dissertation, a great many people
have contributed to this dissertation. I owe my gratitude to all those people who have
made this dissertation possible and because of whom my postgraduate experience has
been one that I will cherish forever.
I have been amazingly fortunate to have a supervisor Mr. David who gave me the
freedom to explore on my own and at the same time the guidance to recover when my
steps faltered. Throughout my dissertation he encouraged me to develop independent
thinking and research skills. He continually stimulated my analytical thinking and
greatly assisted me with scientific writing. The most important is his friendship during
my undergraduate course to graduate studies at Singapore. His mentorship was
paramount in providing a well rounded experience consistent my long-term career
goals.
Furthermore, I am also grateful to Mr. Bernard Nguang, Dir. Collaboration & Head of
Post Graduation Studies and Gina Cheang, senior Program Coordinator for assigning
coordinating my first mentor session with my supervisor.
I extend many thanks to my schoolmate and friends. I greatly appreciate those who
have not been specifically named, but have provided me with information, support
and helped me collect data in EASB institute and other college student for mind
sharing. Their assistance made it possible for me to complete this work.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, for their faith in me and allowing me to be
as ambitious as I wanted. It was under their watchful eye that I gained so much drive
and an ability to tackle challenges head on.
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Abstract
In recent years, the adoption of mobile phone has been exceptionally rapid in many
parts of the world, and especially in Singapore where cellular phones are nowadays
almost as common as wrist watch. They are one of the most turbulent market
environments today due to increased competition and change.
The mobile market in Singapore is characterized by its energy and innovation. For
young people, ownership and usage levels are even higher. While mobile phone usage
is rather an unexamined genre in academic literature, thus, it is a growing concern to
look at students buying decision process and the factors that finally determine
students‟ choice between different brand mobile phone. On this basis, this dissertation
deals with students‟ choice criteria in mobile phone markets by studying factors that
influence intention to acquire new mobile phones on one hand and factors that
influence on mobile phone change on the others.
With the use of a questionnaire that distributed to 300 students, it was found that
although the choice of a mobile phone is a subjective choice situation, there are some
general factors that seem to guide the choices. The studies show that while technical
problems are the basic reasons to change mobile phone among students, price, brand,
and properties are the most influential factors affecting the actual choice between
brands.
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Table of Contents
Section Page
Declaration i
Acknowledgment ii
Abstract iii
Table of Contents iv
List of Figures vi
List of Tables viii
List of Appendices ix
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
1.1 Research Problem 3
1.2 Importance of the Study 3
1.3 Objectives of the Study 4
1.4 Research Methodology 4
1.5 Contribution to Existing Knowledge 5
1.6 Study Hypotheses 5
1.7 Limitation 5
1.8 Brief Explanation for Each Chapter 6
Chapter 2 Literature Review 7

2.1 Introduction 7
2.2 Development of the Marketing Concept 8
2.2.1 Product Concept 8
2.2.2 Selling Concept 9
2.3 Consumer Behavior 10
2.4 Consumer Decision Making 12
2.5 Research Framework and Research Issues 15
2.5.1 Personal characteristics 16
2.5.1.1 Demographic 17
2.5.1.2 Psychological Drivers 18
2.5.1.3 Lifestyle 20
2.5.2 Product Attractiveness 21
2.5.2.1 Brand 22
2.5.2.2 Price 23
2.5.2.3 Technical Properties 24
2.5.3 Social Influence 24
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2.5.3.1 Culture 25
2.5.3.2 Family 26
2.5.3.3 Advertising 26
2.5.4 Summary 28
Chapter 3 Research Methodology 29

3.1 Qualitative and Quantitative Research 29
3.1.1 Qualitative Research 29
3.1.2 Quantitative Research 29
3.1.3 Comparison Qualitative and Quantitative Methods 30
3.2 Justification of Selected Method 31
3.3 Research Procedure 32
3.3.1 Secondary Data Source 33
3.3.2 Primary Data Source 33
3.4 Sample Size of Primary Data 34
3.5 Method of Data Analysis 34
Chapter 4 Data Analysis 35

4.1 Introduction 35
4.2 Data from Questionnaire 36
4.3 Analysis of Data 57
4.4 Research Issues Discussion 59
Chapter 5 Conclusions 61
Chapter 6 Recommendations 64
References 66
Appendices 71
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List of Figures
Figure 1.1 The Beginning of the Smart Phone Era 2

Figure 2.1 The pyramid of consumer behavior 10
Figure 2.2 A simplified model of consumer decision making 13
Figure 2.3 Research Framework 15
Figure 2.4 Maslow‟s Hierarchy 19
Figure 2.5 Model of Personal characteristics 21
Figure 2.6 Model of Product Attractiveness 24
Figure 2.7 Model of Social Influence 28
Figure 4.1 Respondents‟ Feedback from Question 1 36
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vii
List of Tables
Table 3.1 Qualitative and Quantitative research 31

Table 4.1 The Respondent Rate 35
Table 4.2 Respondents‟ Feedback from Question 15 46
Table 4.3 Question 15 Respondents‟ Feedback by Gender 47
viii
List of Appendices
Appendix A Questionnaire 72
Appendix B Results from the Analysis of Responses College by College 76
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Chapter 1
Introduction
In today‟s world of rapidly changing technology, consumer requirements are also

characterized by fast changes. To survive in the market, a company has to be
constantly innovating and understand the latest consumers‟ trends and needs.
Schiffman et al. (2008) describes that consumer behavior provides invaluable clues
and guidelines to marketers on new technological frontiers which they should explore,
for example like mobile phones.
The worldwide market penetration of mobile phones is increasing rapidly and is

already challenging fixed telephony in many countries. Mobile phones are one of the
most common information access devices with almost 31% of the global population
having access (Chakraborty, 2006). Townsend (2002) mentions that the diffusion of
the mobile phone was among the fastest of any technology in history. Such a rapidly
evolving and wide spread communication technology and medium has important
social contexts and implications.
For young people, mobile phone ownership and usage levels are even higher.
Teenagers are the main drivers for 3G services. They are extremely technology savvy.
Their perspective on mobile technology transcends its functionality. Youngsters are a
valuable market, the growing trend young people to stay in touch with family and
friends through their mobiles, providing a very attractive market for mobile phone
companies.
There is currently a shift in experiences from the second generation (2G) to the third
generation (3G) mobile phones, which is expected to change the way people use their
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mobile phones. The rise of the 3G network and its consumer acceptance is going to be
one of the toughest marketing challenges in modern history.
Mobile phone development has been rapid and new models are introduced to the
markets almost on a weekly basis. Especially 3G networks and smart phones are
expected to affect the evolution of the mobile phone market in the near future
(Slawsby, Leibovitch and Giusto, 2003) as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1.1: The Beginning of the Smart Phone Era
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Text, rings Color bitmaps MMS Mobile video/audio

Simple bitmaps Simple animations xHTML Location
SMS Push/Pull EMS Smart phones Integration
Simple Web- SMS Push/Pull Real GPRS Voice recognition
Clipping WAP pull P2P Real wireless
Legacy phones Smart phones, M-Commerce PDAs
PDAs 3G trials Broadband access
GPRS trials Micro movies 3G networks
J2ME, MIDP Hybrid WLAN/3G
Simple location- PAN
based services
Source: Adopted from Karjaluoto et al. (2003a & 2003b)
There are three dominant telecoms providers in Singapore - Singapore Telecom,

StarHub and MobileOne. As of July 2002, 74.7 percent of Singapore‟s population
owned a mobile phone (Singapore SingTel, 2002) and in June 2003 the total number
of mobile phone users is 80.1% (3,336,400) (Singapore Facts, 2005). Singapore has a
mobile phone subscriber rate of more than one per person. SingTel, StarHub and
MobileOne have a combined customer base of 4.61 million for a population of 4.5
million (Asiaone, 2007).
The mobile market in Singapore is characterized by its energy and innovation. Even
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when growth appeared to have slowed somewhat, there was still considerable effort
going into value-added products and services. The market initially approached the
launch of 3G with a degree of caution. As the licenses were issued and the networks
rolled out, some of the major operators and, to some extent, the government was
circumspect about the prospect of next generation of mobiles. However, once the
networks were launched and the customers started signing up (more than 1.8 million
by early 2008), there was a marked shift in enthusiasm for 3G (Market research report,
2008).
1.1 Research Problems
The research problem deals with factors that influence students in the purchase of
mobile phone. And what are the main reasons for change in mobile phone usage in
Singapore? It is conducted to increase current understanding of the student mobile
phone market in general and analyze consumers‟ decision marking in particular. This
study attempts to cast light on the much unexamined area of student mobile phone
purchase, and the choice of mobile phone. The research also is concerned with
analyzing the survey result to create a conclusion which can be used to support or
deny the author‟s hypotheses.
1.2 Importance of the Study
Although mobile phones have become a fundamental part of personal communication

across the globe during the past ten years, consumer research has devoted little
specific attention to motives and choices underlying the mobile phone buying
decision process. There are numerous factors that need to be taken into account when
exploring the mobile phone buying decision process, including both the macro and
microeconomic conditions that affect the evolution of mobile phone market in general
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and individual consumer‟s motives and decision making in particular. Moreover, it is
important to distinguish between buying behaviour referring to the choice between
different mobile phone models and brands and change aspects referring to reasons that
affect change.
As the mobile phone market is a typical technology push driven market where
products are created ahead of the recognition of existing recognized consumer needs,
the mobile phone development is based on consumers‟ potential future needs. This
research hopes to enhance the development of new technologies for the mobile phone
market.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The purpose of this research is to analyze the student mobile phone market in
Singapore. Youths and teenagers are the most enthusiastic users of mobile phones;
some of them prefer impulsive and compulsive consumption to fulfill their need. This
paper is going to examine the different factors that influence the buying decision
process. The author will try to verify these issues by conducting a research directly
into the market.
1.4 Research Methodology
In order to have a good coverage and representative sample, 300 individuals selected
randomly to three colleges in Singapore, the three colleges were indicated as college
A, B and C. The respondents were categorized based on gender, culture, personality
and lifestyle. Moreover, to support the primary data, some related literature review
was used to build a theoretical model. Once the surveys are completed, they will be
collected by college and hand to the researcher. All the participants were asked about
their opinions on purchasing of mobile phone in term of the personal characteristics,
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product attractiveness and social influence.
1.5 Contribution to Existing Knowledge
From a theoretical viewpoint, this dissertation contributed to the buying decision

making process for mobile phones by looking at student motives and examining the
importance of different attributes affecting the actual choice. The result from this
research can be used as additional information as a contribution to the mobile
communication company and mobile phone manufacturer. This research helps
companies to be more competitive in the business world and to be the leaders in their
industries.
1.6 Study Hypotheses
H1: Gender will impact on the evaluations of the attributes as males seem to be more
technology savvy.
H2: When choosing between different mobile phone models, consumers value
familiar brands.
H3: When choosing between different mobile phone models, students have a price
limit that restricts the choice to fewer models.
H4: New technical properties increase consumer willingness to acquire new phone
models.
1.7 Limitation
There are some limitations in this research:

a) The sample was selected randomly among students studying in colleges within a
specific region in Singapore and hence might be biased.

b) Population surveyed is limited to market size in Singapore
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c) Due to cost factors, researcher only focused on three universities in Singapore.
1.8 Description of proposed chapters
Throughout this research 6 chapters are discussed.
Chapter 1: This chapter discusses the introduction of this research which includes
some background of the research, purpose and reason for choosing this topic. Also
there is some explanation about how the research was conducted.
Chapter 2: This section is to support the whole content of the research. The
researcher provided some relevant theories and literature review that served as
fundamental knowledge for this research which related to selection of consumer
buying behavior and some major factors that might influence the student‟s preference.
By developing preference the theoretical framework, the author will try to describe
the linkage between each factor and explain the different behaviors.
Chapter 3: This part provides the information about how the research was conducted,
the method of research.
Chapter 4: This is the major part of the dissertation where the researcher uses an
Excel Program to help in analysis of data; it includes survey results and data analysis
in quantitative research approach.
Chapter 5: Provides several conclusions of the whole research to express whether

research data confirms or does not confirms with the author‟s hypotheses.
Chapter 6: Recommendations showing the areas that are not covered and left for
future research which can provide valuable contributions to the business world.
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Chapter 2
Literature review
2.1 Introduction
Literature review is an unambiguous and logically arranged work which is presented

including all the pertinent research work done until this page. Its factual intention is to
categorize and draw attention to the significant variable, to file the essential findings
that may be used as a foundation on which the current investigation is build and
develop the hypothesis (Sarantakos, 2005).
This dissertation proposes a framework that helps to understand students‟ behavior of

different age levels. It can be used for some new areas by interested researchers to
focus on in near future. Manufacturers must decide who to target their marketing at:
the buyer, the payer or the user. For some products or services, the manufacturer must
identify the person who is most likely to influence the decision.
Marketing personal need to understand the different behavior patterns and be

concerned about the development of the right product to satisfy customers‟ needs. It
requires an in-depth study of the internal and external environment; they should
formulate different plans for marketing and also be responsible for marketing their
products through appropriate advertising and promotion.
Furthermore, by analyzing consumers‟ buying habits, manufacturer can understand

and anticipate their next step of the promotion plan. To understand consumers‟
behavior, there will be a lot of different factors that determine the buying decisions of
each consumer. These factors will be discussed in more detail in the following
sections.
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2.2 Development of the marketing concept
Marketing has become more crucial for a company in managing their available
resources to meet with consumers‟ needs and wants. Consumer preferences are in
many ways constantly evolving, so marketers require a good understanding of
consumer behavior.
Instead of trying to persuade customers to buy what the firm had already produced,
marketing – oriented firms endeavored to produce only what they had first determined
that consumers would buy. The consumer‟s needs became the marketing – oriented
primary focus. This consumer – oriented marketing philosophy, introduced by
General Electric in the mid – 1950s, became known as the marketing concept
(Schiffman, et al., 2008).
The key assumption underlying the marketing concept is that to be successful, a

company must determine the needs and wants of specific target markets and deliver
the satisfaction better than the competition (Schiffman, et al., 2008). To meet the
needs of specific group of consumers more effectively, customer-oriented
organizations have developed a process of market segmentation, which divides their
total potential markets into smaller, homogeneous segments for which they are able to
design specific marketing strategies (Palmer, 2004).
2.2.1 Product concept
When goods and services become more readily available and competition
intensifies, some marketers adopt a product concept. The assumption underlying the
product concept is that consumers will buy the product that offers them the highest
quality, the best performance and the most features. A product concept leads a
company to strive constantly to improve the quality of its product offering, which can
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result in what is often referred to as „marketing myopia‟ (a focus on the product rather
than on the consumer need it presumes to satisfy) (Schiffman, et al., 2008)
Mobile phone GPRS trials, broadband access and transmit audio, features that are not
used by all consumers but the consumer pays for in the price of the product.
Sometimes product improvements are technology – driven rather than a response to
consumer needs. In highly competitive markets, companies may continue to develop
new models and add features in the hope of attracting buyers.
2.2.2 Selling concept
Companies that switch to a selling concept change their primary focus from
improving the product to selling the product. Many companies exert a tremendous
„hard sell‟ on consumers in order to move goods they unilaterally decide to produce.
The implicit assumption in the selling orientation is that consumers are unlikely to
buy a product unless they are actively and aggressively persuaded to do so. The
problem with a selling concept is that it does not take consumer satisfaction into
account. If consumers are induced to buy a product they don‟t want or need, their
unhappiness is likely to be communicated by negative word–of–month, which may
dissuade other potential consumers (Schiffman, et al., 2008).
Youths and teenagers are the most enthusiastic users of mobile telephony in many
countries around the world. Mobile phones have become not only a status symbol and
a fashionable good for young people but also a new mode of socializing, particularly
in developed countries but elsewhere as well (Katz, 2003).
Therefore, to operate successfully, organizations must have an explicit – rather than an

implicit – understanding of the factors that influence (encourage or discourage)
consumer‟s behavior (to buy or not to buy). They have to know why students buy
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mobile phones, what needs students are trying to satisfy, and what influences students‟
and brand choices in order to design persuasive marketing strategies.
2.3 Consumer behavior
Consumer behavior is a multidisciplinary field that integrates a vast array of

disciplines, from psychophysiology to sociology and anthropology (Solomon et al.,
2007) (Figure 2.1). According to Schiffman, et al., (2008), consumer behavior is
behavior that consumers display in seeking, purchasing, using evaluating and
disposing of products and services that they expect will satisfy their personal needs.
Consumer behavior includes how consumers think (their mental decisions) and feel,
and the physical actions that result from those decision.
Figure 2.1: The pyramid of consumer behavior
Source: Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, Hogg, 2007
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The definition clearly brings out that it is not just the buying of goods/services that
receives attention in consumer behavior, but the process starts much before the goods
have been acquired or bought. A process of buying starts in the minds of the consumer,
which leads to the finding of alternatives between products that can be acquired with
their relative advantages and disadvantages. This leads to internal and external
research.
People engage in activities for many purposes other than consumption, but when
acting as a customer, individuals have just one goal in mind – to obtain goods and
services that meet their needs and wants. All consumers face varying problems
associated with acquiring products and services to satisfy needs and wants. Because
solutions to these problems are vital to the existence of most people, and the
economic well-being of all, they are usually not taken lightly. The consumer must
make specific types of decisions in order to obtain desired products and services. The
process is complex, as decisions must be made about what product or service to buy,
and why, how, when, where and how to buy it.
Kotler (1997) describes that consumers make product choices based on which
combination of product attributes best meets their needs based on dimensions of value,
cost, and prior satisfaction. Product attributes considered may be either core attributes
that deliver basic benefits sought by customers, or auxiliary or peripheral attributes
that provide supplementary benefits and are important for providing added-value and
differentiation (Zikmund and d‟Amico, 1993).
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2.4 Consumer decision making
The reason why people do or do not purchase a product or a service is the response to
the buying behavior process.
Consumer decision making has become an increasingly important research topic that
spans many different domains. Scholars have been working diligently to understand
choices in the context of purchase and consumption decisions. According to a recent
book Schiffman, et al. (2008), the decision making stage can be seen as three distinct
but interlocking stages: the input stage, the process stage and the output stage. These
stages are depicted in a simplified model of consumer decision making in Figure 2.2
(Page 13)
Then follows a process which is also very important, because it gives a clue to the
marketers whether the product has been a success or not.
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Figure 2.2: A simplified model of consumer decision making
External influences
Firm’s marketing strategies Sociocultural environment

a Product a Communication and reference groups
INPUT b Promotion b Family
c Pricing c Social class
d Channel of distribution d Culture and subculture
e Marketing segmentation e opinion leadership and diffusion of innovation
f Public policy and consumer protection
Decision making
Need recognition Psychological field

a Consumer needs and motivation
b Personality and self
c Perception
d Learning and involvement
e Attitudes
Pre-purchase research
PROCESS f Public policy and consumer protection
Psychological field
a Organization buying
Evaluation of
alternatives
Experience
Post- decision behavior
Purchase
OUTPUT a Trial
b Repeat purchase
Post purchase evaluation
Source: Schiffman, et al., (2008) p. 14
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The input stage influences the consumer‟s recognition of a product need and consists
of two major sources of information: the firm‟s marketing efforts (the product itself,
the price, its promotion and where it is sold) and the external sociological influences
on the consumer (family, friends, neighbours, other informal and non-commercial
social class, and subcultural and cultural membership). The cumulative impact of each
firm‟s marketing efforts, the influence of family, friends and neighbours, and society‟s
existing code of behavior are all inputs that are likely to affect what comsumers
purchase and how they use what they buy (Solomon et al., 2007).
The process stage of the model, psychological factors inherent in each individual
(involvement, motivation, perception, learning, personality and attitudes) affect how
the external inputs (i.e. environment factors) from the input stage influence the
consumer‟s recognition of a need, the pre-purchase search for information and the
evaluation of alternatives. The experience gained through evaluation of alternatives in
turn affects the consumer‟s existing psychological attributes (Schiffman, et al., 2008).
The output stage of the consumer decision-making model consists of two closely
related post-decision activities: purchase and post-purchase evaluation. Purchase
behavior for a low-priced, non-durable product may be influenced by a
manufacturer‟s coupon and may actually be a trial purchase: it the consumer is
satisfied, he or she may repeat the purchase. The trial is the exploratory phase of
purchase behavior in which the consumer evaluates the product (brand) through direct
use. A repeat purchase usually signifies product (or brand) adoption (Schiffman, et al.,
2008). For a relatively high-priced, durable product such as mobile phone, the
purchase is more likely to signify adoption.
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2.5 Research Framework and Research Issues
Consumers adjust purchasing behavior based on their individual needs and

interpersonal factors. In order to understand these influences, researchers try to
ascertain what happens inside consumers' minds and to identify personal
characteristics, product attractiveness and social Influence influences on purchase of
mobile phone (Figure 2.3).
Figure 2.3: Research Framework
Personal Characteristics
Demographic
Psychological Drivers
Lifestyle
Product Attractiveness
Purchase of
Brand
Price Mobile Phone
Technical Properties
Social Influence
Culture
Family
Advertising
Source: Created for this research
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The 4 Research Issues as shows in the Research Framework:
Research Issue 1 (RI1) : Demographic factors have an influence on the

evaluations of different attributes related to mobile
phone choice. Specifically, gender will impact on the
evaluations of the attributes as male to be more
technology savvy.
Research Issue 2 (RI2) : When choosing between different mobile phone models,
consumers value familiar brands.
Research Issue 3 (RI3) : When choosing between different mobile phone models,
students have a price limit that restricts the choice to
fewer models.
Research Issue 4 (RI4) : New technical properties increase consumer willingness
to acquire new phone models.
2.5.1 Personal characteristics
Personal factors significantly impact the consumer purchasing process. Men and
women have needs for different products that may or may not cross gender lines.
Teenagers may purchase a product for different reasons than older people. Also, it is
important to determine who buys the product and who is actually going to be the end
user. One household member may be responsible for purchasing household items.
However, a different member of the household may be the only person actually using
the product.
A person's characteristics and ways of behaving which determines his or her

adjustment to the environment in a unique way, it is a concept that emphasises the
effect of an individual's past history on his or her current behaviour (Moutinho,1987).
Kotler and Armstrong (2001) describes each person‟s distinct personality influences
his or her buying behavior.
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The consideration of personality types is important to appraise behaviour trends.
Some persons are more concerned with impulsive, compulsive, and addictive buying
of consumer behaviours. Most consumers possess an impulse buying tendency “to
buy spontaneously, unreflectively, immediately, and kinetically” (Mowen & Minor,
1998). These differences must be taken into account since they will mean diverse
purchasing mobile phone behaviours.
2.5.1.1 Demographic
Demographic is one of the components that also can influence consumer‟s behaviour.
According to Solomon et al. (2007), Demography refers to the identifiable and
measure statistics of a population. Demographic characteristics such as sex, age, race,
ethnic origin, income, family life cycle and occupation, are often used as the basic for
market segmentation.
A consumer age is often a strong determinant of his or her product choices and
consumption practices and patterns. Product needs often vary with age and many
marketers are able to segment their market based on age. Gender is frequently used as
a distinguishing segmentation variable. For many products and service, marketers
have long been segmented into female and male, due to different in needs and / or
social roles of female and male consumers. Income has long been an important
variable for distinguishing market segment. Marketers commonly use income as a
segmentation criterion, because they feel it is a strong indicator of the ability (or
inability) to pay for a product (or brand) or a specific model of a product (Blackwell,
et al., 2007).
Marketers often target products and services to one or more specific age cohorts. They
recognize that the same offering will probably not appeal to people of different ages,
nor will the language and image they use to reach them. In some cases separate
campaigns are developed to attract consumer of different ages.
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2.5.1.2 Psychological Drivers
A person‟s buying choices are further influenced by the psychological factor (Kotler
& Armstrong, 2001). In a recent study Blythe (2008) identified a buyer‟s decision also
are influenced by psychological drivers such as motivation, perception, learning
beliefs and attitudes.
Everybody is motivated by needs and wants to attain their desired goals. Needs are the
basic forces that motivate a person to do something, wants are the needs that are
learned during a person‟s life (Weber & Villebonne, 2002). Most of the consumers are
looking for the greatest satisfaction by spending their time and money to fulfill their
needs and wants (Perreault & McCarthy, 2002). A Need can be hedonic, and based
upon emotional needs, or utilitarian, and based upon functional needs. Want is a
manifestation of a need, and it is strongly driven by psychological factors. Motives
are based on Maslow‟s hierarchy of needs starting with physiological and ending with
self actualization, it can be grouped into five categories (Figure 2.4, Page 19). Is the
product being bought to satisfy a basic need like nourishment or is it being purchased
to show one‟s level of success. Motives are often subconsciously driven and therefore
measuring them is difficult and the set of mechanisms for controlling movement
towards goals.
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Figure 2.4: Maslow’s Hierarchy
Source: Jobber, 2004
Consumers‟ perception impacts their purchasing decision. Perception is the process of

selecting, organizing and interpreting information inputs to produce meaning and how
this is achieved, it has a significant role on consumers‟ information search and how
the information is interpreted. Consumers choose what information they perceive as
important/relevant and discard the remaining (Weber & Villebonne, 2002).
An attitude is a predisposition, created by learning and experience, to respond in a

consistent way toward an object, such as a product. This predisposition can be
favourable or unfavourable. Attitudes differ from values in the sense that they are
more articulated and directed to specific objects. They are also different from opinions,
which consist of explanations or justifications of attitudes and not of the tendency to
act per se. Marketing strategies aim to maintain, change or create attitudes (Moutinho,
1987). In the context of mobile phone, attitudes are predispositions or feelings toward
a new model appearance, based on multiple perceived product attributes.
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Attitudes may be negative (placing the product in the latitude of rejection) or positive
(placing the product in the latitude of acceptance). They are generally considered to
have three components: cognitive, affective and conative. The cognitive component is
sometimes called the belief or knowledge component, consisting of the beliefs and
opinions, based on some evidence, that an individual holds about something (a place,
an experience, another person); the affective component refers to the feelings and
emotions about the destination or service and implies judgement on the basis of
emotion; the conative component is the action tendency which can have a favourable
or unfavourable character (Moutinho, 1987).
Although quite many instances have challenged the need for new mobile services
(Bradner, 2002), the current trend in the mobile phone industry is that we are
experiencing a shift from second generation mobile phones to third generation. This
means that a mobile phone will not only be a device used for speaking but a handset
that allows consumers a variety of new different service such as Internet access and
multimedia messaging services.
2.5.1.3 Lifestyle
According to Blake et al., (2003); Song & Zahedi, (2001), consumer lifestyles, such
as the wired lifestyle, innovative lifestyle, and price-oriented lifestyle, have been
examined as a determinant of purchasing behaviour. Choices are often driven by
hedonistic considerations (Dhar and Werterbroch, 2000; Batra and Ahtola, 1990),
Specifically, the younger the consumer the more hedonistic features consumers tend
to value in mobile phones. Mobile phone choice and usage is consistent to general
consumption styles. Different lifestyle would have an impact on purchasing price and
choice of purchasing place.
Innovativeness lifestyle, innovativeness has been employed to predict customers‟

innovative tendencies to adopt a variety of technological innovations. Purchasing
20
through the Internet is an innovative behaviour that is more likely to be adopted by
innovators than by non-innovators (Mowen & Minor, 1998)
Life style as expressed in his or her activities, interests, and opinions. It captures
something more than the person‟s social class or personality. The life-style concept
can help the marketer gain an understanding of changing consumer values and how
they affect buying behavior.
Figure 2.5 below illustrates the model of Personal characteristics factor.
Figure 2.5: Model of Personal characteristics
Demographic
Psychological Personal
Drivers characteristics
Lifestyle
2.5.2 Product Attractiveness
Attributes are the characteristic or features that an object may or may not have and
includes both intrinsic and extrinsic. Benefits are the positive outcomes that come
from the attributes. People seek products that have attributes that will solve their
problems and fulfills their needs (Mowen & Minor, 1998). Both tangible and
intangible attributes of a product are equally important in choosing a product or brand.
21
There is no evidence that certain attributes are more related to customer loyalty than
others, but the more attributes (non-negative) associated with a brand, there have
more loyal customer.
Influence of product attributes or types of products in consumer buying decisions has

been identified by a number of researchers (Kauffman, 1996). Some effects of product
type and application on attribute importance in the choice process are found by
Kauffman (1994). The attributes of novelty, complexity, and importance are
determined to be causal determinants of participation and influence in purchasing
decisions by McQuiston (1989). Product type effects on influence of buying center
members are found by Jackson et al. (1984).
Product performance appears to play a key role in influencing consumer adoption, for
example, the product‟s success may depend on the choice of product positioning,
product attributes or packaging needed to create differentiation. The product
attractiveness can be categorized into three domains: brand, price and technical
properties.
2.5.2.1 Brand
Brand is an element that makes one product look different with other. People believe
that one particular brand can do better than the others, even though it has similar
product design, function, and characteristics. Brand name will help the consumer to
identify the product benefits and features compared to the others.
Product brand had played a dominant role in the consumer decision-making process
(Forsythe, 1991; Oh & Hun, 1995). The major of consumer tend to purchase a
favourite brand or set of brand, although the degree of loyalty varied by product, the
percentage of consumer exhibiting some brand loyalty was rather high (London &
Dellabitta 1993). O'Keefe (2004), additionally, size and brand of the phone are
22
affecting choice. Myers (2003) also said that brand equity may be more influenced by
attribute knowledge more than consumer preference.
Related to this is the role brand awareness plays when consumers have to choose
between a numbers of brands. When consumers have to choose between brands, they
tend to choose the brand they know. Young people who live in urban areas are
influenced by the brand name of a product. They are less sensitive to price than their
parents.
Students learn about cellular phone from many sources, mainly from friends and
families, through advertisement and from their own experience. Whether a promotion
and advertising hurt or help a brand is under-researched. But in the long-run,
advertisements help brands by making the consumer less price sensitive and more
loyal.
2.5.2.2 Price
Price is another form of attribute used by consumers to evaluate a product. Price can
sometimes be an indicator of quality; with a higher price indicating higher quality
(Liu, 2002). Consumers perceive that a higher price can be attributed to the higher
cost of quality control. Some consumers are highly price sensitive (elastic demand),
whereby a high prices may shift consumers to competitive brands. Therefore price can
have a positive or negative influence on customers.
Cost is still uppermost in the buying decision (Lowson, 2001; Mattila et al., 2002).
Price of the phone has been identified as a critical factor in the choice of the mobile
phone model, especially among younger people (Karjaluoto et al., 2003a; Karjaluoto
et al., 2003b). Higher price can especially for low-income consumers like student, be
an obstacle that makes it actually impossible to purchase. Therefore price can have a
positive or negative influence on customers.
23
2.5.2.3 Technical Properties
New technology features such as built-in cameras, better memory, radio, more developed
messaging services, and colour displays are influencing consumer decisions to acquire
new phone models (Liu, 2002; O‟Keefe, 2004). Thus the new features will influence the
intention to acquire new mobile phones.
Figure 2.6 illustrates the model of product attractiveness factor.
Figure 2.6: Model of product attractiveness
Brand
Product
Price
Attractiveness
Technical
Properties
2.5.3 Social Influence
A number of external influences affect consumer behavior and purchase decision

processes. The social environment directly affects sources of information consumers‟
use in decision making and product evaluation (Bearden, Ingram, LaForge, 2003).
The social environment includes all the behavioral inputs received from other people
(Blythe, 2008). Social factors play an important role in consumers purchasing
decisions. Here, from culture, family and advertising to study the social influence
24
factor.
A consumer‟s behavior is also influenced by social factors, such as the consumer‟s

small groups, family, and social roles and status. Because these social factors can
strongly affect consumer responses, companies must take them into account when
designing their marketing strategies.
2.5.3.1 Culture
Culture influences behaviour through its manifestations: values, heroes, rituals, and
symbols (Hofstede, 1997). It is the complex of abstract and material elements created
by a society. It refers to values, ideas, attitudes and meaningful symbols, as well as
artefacts elaborated in a society. Those elements are transmitted from one generation
to another and serve to shape human behaviour, implying explicit or implicit patterns
of and for behaviour.
The concept of culture is broad and it is not easy to analyse the cultural determination
of behaviours. Its influence is natural and subtle, and often the individuals are neither
conscious nor aware of it. The behaviour patterns of an individual are related to the
values and beliefs that were incorporated. Beliefs constitute a person's particular
knowledge and assessment of something (another person, a store, a product, a place,
etc), and are often expressed as mental or verbal statements (i.e., "I believe that...").
Values may have the characteristics of beliefs but they are not directed toward a
specific object: they serve as standards for appropriate behaviour; and they are widely
accepted by the members of a social group (Moutinho, 1987). Culture factors exert a
broad and deep influence on consumer behaviour, it is the most basic cause of a
person‟s wants and behaviour (Armstrong & Kotler, 2007).
25
2.5.3.2 Family
According to Hofstede (1997) the role of family‟s member can have a great impact on
the final outcome in buying the new products or service. The structure of the family‟s
members can always change through the time which can influence their needs and
wants. It also affects family purchasing decision making
Marketers are interested in understanding the consumer behaviour of the family

because it is considered the most important decision making and consumption unit
(Assael, 1998). Family influences play two important roles: in the socialization of
people and in affecting individual purchase decisions. Family are the most influential
factor on an individual‟s behaviour, values, and attitudes. Member of a family or
household may assume different roles and the roles maybe change, depending on the
situation (Bearden, Ingram, LaForge, 2003 )
Family members can strongly influence buyer behavior. The buyer‟s parents make up
the family of orientation. From parents a student acquires an orientation toward
religion, politics, and economics and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth, and
love. The family of procreation-the buyer‟s spouse and children-exert a more direct
influence on everyday buying behavior. The family is the most important consumer
buying organization in society, and it has been researched extensively. Marketers are
interested in the roles and relative influence of the husband, wife, and children on the
purchase of a large variety of products and services.
2.5.3.3 Advertising
Most people have a positive attitude towards advertising. It is seen as a good source of
information about products, trends and fashion. Advertising usually influence them
26
when they choose products to purchase. Young people pay more attention to
advertising than adults.
Advertisements for competing brands or for other products made by the same
manufacturer can lower the consumer‟s ability to remember advertised brand
information (Schiffman et al., 1997). In the long-run, advertisement help brands by
making consumer less price sensitive and more loyal. According to Ayanwale, Alimi
and Ayanbimipe (2005), Advertiser‟s primary mission is to reach prospective
customers and influence their awareness, attitudes and buying behaviour. Figure 2.7
(page 28) illustrates the model of social influence factor.
Advertiser‟s primary mission is to reach prospective customers and influence their

awareness, attitudes and buying behaviour. They spend a lot of money to keep
individuals (markets) interested in their products. To succeed, they need to understand
what makes potential customers behave the way they do. The advertisers goals is to
get enough relevant market data to develop accurate profiles of buyers-to-find the
common group (and symbols) for communications this involves the study of
consumers behaviour: the mental and emotional processes and the physical activities
of people who purchase and use goods and services to satisfy particular needs and
wants (Bearden, Ingram, LaForge, 2003 )
Therefore, the importance of sales on business survival and the connection between
customers and sales, it is expedient for organizations to engage in programmes that
can influence consumers‟ decision to purchase its products. This is where advertising
and brand management are relevant. As a promotional strategy, advertising serve as a
major tool in creating product awareness and condition the mind of a potential
consumer to take eventual purchase decision.
27
Figure 2.7 illustrates the model of social influence factor.
Figure 2.7: Model of social influence
Culture
Social
Family
Influence
Advertising
2.5.4 Summary
Markets must be understood before marketing strategies can be developed. The

consumer market buys goods and services for personal consumption. Consumers vary
tremendously in age, income, education, tastes and other factors. Marketers must
understand how consumers transform marketing and other inputs into buying
responses. Consumer behavior is influenced by the buyer‟s charakteristics and by the
buyer‟s decision process. Buyer charakteristics include four major factors: cultural,
social, personal, and psychological. A person‟s buying behavior is the result of the
complex interplay of all these personal, product attractivenessl, social, and
psychological factors. Many of these factors cannot be controlled by marketers, but
they are useful in identifying and understanding the consumers that marketers are
trying to influence.
28
Chapter 3
Research methodology
Zikmund (2003) states research methods can be classified in various ways, however
one of the most common distinctions is between qualitative and quantitative research
methods.
3.1 Qualitative and Quantitative research
3.1.1 Qualitative research
Qualitative research methods were developed in the social sciences to enable

researchers to study social and cultural phenomena. Examples of qualitative methods
are action research, case study research and ethnography. Qualitative data sources
include observation and participant observation (fieldwork), interviews and
questionnaires, documents and texts, and the researcher‟s impressions and reactions
(Zikmund, 2003)
Qualitative research is much more subjective than quantitative research and uses very
different methods of collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews
and focus groups. The nature of this type of research is exploratory and open-ended.
Small numbers of people are interviewed in-depth and/or a relatively small number of
focus groups are conducted (Veal, 2005)
3.1.2 Quantitative research
Quantitative research methods were originally developed in the natural sciences to

study natural phenomena. Examples of quantitative methods now well accepted in the
29
social sciences include survey methods, laboratory experiments, formal methods (e.g.
econometrics) and numerical methods such as mathematical modeling (Zikmund,
2003). By definition, measurement must be objective, quantitative and statistically
valid. Simply put, it‟s about numbers, objective hard data.
3.1.3 Comparison of qualitative and quantitative methods
Through the analysis and comparison (see table 3.1, page 31), quantitative research is
objective; qualitative is subjective. Quantitative research seeks explanatory laws;
qualitative research aims at in-depth description. Qualitative research measures what
it assumes to be a static reality in hopes of developing universal laws. Qualitative
research is an exploration of what is assumed to be a dynamic reality. It does not
claim that what is discovered in the process is universal, and thus, replicable.
Common differences usually cited between these types of research include.
30
Table 3.1: Qualitative and Quantitative research
Qualitative Quantitative
To gain a qualitative To quantify the data and

Objective understanding of the generalize the results from
underlying reasons and the sample to the population
motivations of interest
Subjective - individuals’ Objective – seeks precise

Method interpretation of events is measurement & analysis of
important ,e.g., uses target concepts, e.g., uses
participant observation, in- surveys, questionnaires etc.
depth interviews etc.
Sample Small number of Large number of

nonrepresentative cases representative cases
Process Deductive Inductive
Data collection Unstructured Structured

Data analysis Nonstatistical Statistical
Outcome Develop an initial Recommend a final course of

understanding action
Source: Malhotra, (2002) and Miles & Huberman (1994)
3.2 Justification of selected method
This study is an inductive research. Through the inductive reasoning to test the factors
affect student purchase of mobile phone. From the results of the research it will bw
possible to estimate certain responses, and identify factors that are the most important
determinants.
Questionnaire survey is arguably the most commonly used technique in management

research. The merits of questionnaire survey (Veal, 2005):
 Transparency: while absolute „objective‟ is impossible, questionnaire methods
provide a „transparent‟ parent set of research procedures. How information has
31
been collected and how it has been analyzed is clear for all to see.
 Succinct presentation: quantification can provide relatively complex information
in a succinct, easily understood form.
 Comparability: methods such as longitudinal surveys and annually repeated
surveys provide the opportunity to study change over time, using comparable
methodology.
 Capturing complexity: questionnaires can be an effective means of gathering a
wide range of complex information on individuals or organization on a
comparable basis.
In order to study students purchasing motives in cellular phone markets, the

researcher uses quantitative approach. Therefore, the quantitative research method
will be adopted in this research.
3.3 Research Procedure
The procedures of this research involve three different steps such as data collection,
data presentation and data analysis. Data collection includes collecting data from both
primary source and secondary source.
Zikmund (2003) stated that primary data are data collected and recorded for the
purpose of the ongoing project at hand. In this dissertation, questionnaire is used as a
primary data collection method. The survey will be done based on cross-sectional
study. Cross-sectional study is a study that is done at a single point of time which
involves various segments of a population. Meanwhile, secondary data refers to data
that already assembled by someone else in the past that can be used as a supporting
fact for researcher (Zikmund, 2003). For the purpose of this dissertation, journals,
research paper, business magazines and internet resources are used as supporting
information.
32
The second step is data analysis and presentation where data gained are being
presented in the form of graphs and charts. This is meant to make it easier to be
understood. Lastly, all the data collected will be validated to confirm or repudiate the
researcher‟s hypothesis in this dissertation.
3.3.1 Secondary Data Source
Secondary data are data that are already assembled by someone else in the past that
can be used as a supporting fact for researcher (Zikmund, 2003). Secondary data can
be used by researcher in various ways such as providing information to resolve the
investigated problem, as a valuable source of new ideas that can be explored later
through primary research, serves as a prerequisite to collecting primary data,
providing useful information in planning the similar studies, helps to define the
population, select the sample in primary information collection, define the parameters
of primary research, and serves as a reference base against which to compare the
validity or accuracy of primary data. Therefore, for the purpose of this dissertation,
journals, research paper, business magazines and internet resources are used as
supporting information.
3.3.2 Primary Data Source
Zikmund (2003) stated that primary data are data collected and recorded in the
purpose of the ongoing project at hand. There are eight methods in collecting the
primary data: door-to-door interview, executive interview, mall intercept, central
location telephone interview, direct computer interview, self-administered
questionnaires, ad hoc mail surveys, and mail panels (McDaniel Jr. & Gates, 1998).
From the eight methods mentioned, the researcher used self-administered/self-

administrated questionnaire as the way of collecting primary data for this research.
Zikmund (2003) describes self-administrated questionnaire as a set of questions that is
33
answered by the respondent rather than by an interviewer. In self-administrated
questionnaire, researcher is required to give clear written-questions to the respondent
instead of good interviewing skill (Zikmund, 2003).
3.4 Sample Size of Primary Data
A sample is selected from the population. The larger the sample the more chance it
has of being representative of the population. A sample that is not representative of the
population is described as biased. The whole process of sample selection must be
aimed at minimizing bias in the sample. The process of random sampling aims to
provide a representative sample and to reduce bias (Zikmund, 2003)
In order to answer the research question, 300 participants were selected randomly
from three colleges in Singapore. The respondents were categorized based on gender,
age and lifestyle. Moreover, to support the primary data, some theoretical material is
used and it includes related literature review to build theoretical model. Questionnaire
will be collected by the universities on behalf of the researcher. This type of
distribution has often a very high response rate and the researcher is able to gather a
great amount of data in short time. Finally, researcher managed to get feedback from
263 respondents which represent 87.66 percent of total population.
3.5 Method of Data Analysis
Data analysis is the heart and soul of quantitative research. The valid questionnaire
volume used Microsoft Excel to produce some charts that are used to assist in the
analysis to examine the influence of student purchasing behavior.
For the purpose of this research, Likert Scale method is used. All the questions in the
questionnaire are designed using five categories Likert Scale labelled “Strongly
Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”.
34
Chapter 4
Data Analysis
4.1 Introduction
This is the major part uses an Excel Program to help in analysis of data; it includes
survey results and data analysis in quantitative research approach.
Quantitative methods are research techniques that are used to gather quantitative date
– information dealing with numbers and anything that is measurable. Simply, there are
five major and important steps involved the data analysis (Sridhar, 2008):
1. Data reduction, aggregation or compression

2. Data presentation
3. Graphical presentation
4. Exploratory data analysis
5. Looking for relationships & trends
The analysis of data reserves the significance in providing the information of market.
The respondent of the questionnaires were of different ages in between 17 – 26. The
questionnaires were issued in three different colleges. Questionnaire will be collected
by the colleges on behalf of the researcher. This type of distribution has often a very
high response rate, college A, B and C gave respondent rates of 83%, 88% and 92%
(Table 4.1). This led to the aggregate percentage of 87.66 respondent rate.
Table 4.1: The Respondent Rate
College A College B College C Total

Issued 100 100 100 300
Returned 83 88 92 263
Percentage 83% 88% 92% 87.66%
35
4.2 Data from Questionnaire
The survey‟s results are presented graphically together with the question of the
questionnaire, as follows:
Section A: Personal Context
Question 1: What is your gender?
Figure 4.1 Respondents’ Feedback from Question 1
The pie chart above shows the percentage of questionnaires that were distributed for
this survey. The total number of survey is 263, 139 of them are females and 124 are
males. As females tend to change mobile phone more often than males, more
questionnaires were distributed to females.
36
Question 2: What is your age range?
The chart above shows the age distribution of all the students who completed the
questionnaire. 44% fall into 22-23 age and they are normally students in university. It
can be clearly seen that the 22-23 more keen to respond to the survey as this has this
ability and desire to change mobile phone with extra functions or features.
Question 3: What is the monthly income of your family?
37
The figure above clearly shows that most of the respondents have family incomes of
more than 5000. The author thinks students are likely to get financial assistance from
family. Based on the family income, the spending ability of students varies.
Question 4: How old were you when you owned your first mobile phone?
The figure 4.4 above showed that more than half (54%) of the respondents‟ owned
their first phone in the 14-17 age region. They fall in the category of secondary
students. The author believes it is necessary to understand what their needs and
requirements were even though they have relatively week purchasing ability. However,
this question is related to Q3 for most of them received financial assistance from
family.
38
Question 5: Do you only using one mobile phone at a time?
According to the figure 4.5 above, basically 92% of the students owned only have one
mobile phone, as the phone had more than enough functions to cover the daily
activities. Different models with different focus in function are designed to suit
different students need.
Question 6: How much did you spend on current mobile phone when you
bought it?
39
The question was to determine how much was the average spent for each respondent.
According to the figure above, 39% of the students spent an average S$300-600 on
their mobile, 28% between S$100-300 and 15% below S$100. It shows that students
are more interested in mobile phones priced S$300. Mobile phones that are worth
S$300 will have all the basic functions to attract the students to buy them. In another
word, the students are relatively cost sensitive.
Question 7: What is the brand of the mobile phone are you using now?
As shown in figure 4.7, a total at 44% of the students choose Sony Ericsson as this
brand of mobile focuses on the function of music and entertainment. Sony Ericsson
has more music features that attract more attention from students. 31% of the students
decided to use Nokia as it is one of the most popular brands with the latest features
and is sold at a reasonable price. The above figures tell us that brand image and
innovative design are important to attract consumers‟ attention.
40
Section B: Consumer behavior
Question 8: Would you change the brand on your next purchase?
72% of the respondents might be purchasing the phone with same brand. The author
believes it is because the student mobile market is not dominated by only 1 or 2 phone
manufactures. There are several main players on the market trying to grab as much
market share as possible. Every brand has its own excellence in certain designs and
features. Consumers‟ thinking swings all the time to look for their own preference in
different time and even in different mood. Therefore, the author still believes that
consumers will still choose their familiar brand as it will be easier for them to operate
the equipment as long as the brand is not out dated as compared to other brand.
41
Question 9: On the average how long would you normally take to change your
mobile phones?
49% of the respondents would most probably change their mobile phones within a
year. The author believes it is mainly caused by two factors. Firstly, it is caused by
mobile phone manufacturers as they introduce new phones with new features at a fast
pace, average 3-6 months. Students are easily attracted by these new features and are
willing to pay extra to get a new phone. Secondly, the mobile phone is getting cheaper
and cheaper nowadays so it becomes affordable to students.
Question 10: Where do you normally buy your mobile phone?
42
According to figure 4.10 above, 40% of the respondents choose to purchase mobile
phones from telecom service providers, for example, Singtel, M1 and Starhub. 22%
are from retail shops. The author believes it is because these are the two sources are
able to provide not only the phone but also the mobile plan. Students can be permitted
to purchase latest phone at lower or even zero cost if they are willing to sign up a 24
month contract. This kind of promotion will encourage and increase the usage of
phones by students.
Question 11: What is/ are the usage(s) of your mobile phone?
Based on figure 4.11 above, 96% of the respondents choose SMS in their top 3
priority. 92% of the respondents choose Call out/in in their top 3 features, 73% of the
respondents choose date and time features as their top 3 features, 31% of the
respondents choose entertainment in their top 3 features and 26% of the respondents
choose internet in their top 3 features . This question is designed to understand the
basic functions that students need in their daily activity.
43
Question 12: What features would you like in the mobile phone of the future?
About 41% of the respondents choose design, as their first choice. They are keen to
use see modern mobile features rather than traditional designs. 29% choose
multimedia so that they can download MP3 and MP4 format songs into their mobile
phone and listen to music and radio wherever they go. It can eliminate the extra cost
of buying MP3 & MP4 players. 16% choose basic properties and 14% choose
innovative features. It shows students need those basic functions as well as something
new.
Question 13: What is the primary factor affecting your choice of mobile phone?
44
As shown above, 27% and 26% of the respondents choose design and price as their
primary factor that influences their choice when buying mobile phone. As students are
more fashion orientated and price sensitive, therefore, these two factors will decide
what kind of mobile they buy.
14% choose innovative, 12% choose brand and basic properties and 10% choose
multimedia. These figures show that students pay more attention to brand, basic and
multimedia properties. 6% choose reliability and other factors.
Question 14: Is your family involved in making decisions when purchasing a

new mobile?
The above figures 4.14 clearly tell us that 68% of the young people are independent in
thinking, they know exactly what they want for their personal stuff. It is because each
person has their own preference on certain aspect. Each one shows interest to
different functions and features.
45
Question 15: When purchasing a new mobile phone, how important are the
following factors to you?
Table 4.2 Respondents’ Feedback from Question 15

Most Unimportant Normal Important Most
unimportant important
Innovative
Browsing WWW 2% 11% 87%
E-mail 18% 9% 73%
UMTS 12% 23% 26% 19% 20%
Java 8% 20% 36% 25% 11%
WAP- services 10% 19% 42% 17% 12%
New features 9% 62% 24% 5%
Colour screen 9% 12% 59% 20%
Multimedia
Multimedia player 18% 9% 73%
Built-in camera 8% 15% 77%
Design
Appearance 9% 21% 62% 8%
Styling 9% 21% 62% 8%
Small size 13% 30% 46% 11%
Brand & Basic
Properties
Domestic product 19% 17% 32% 26% 6%
Advanced SMS 12% 41% 24% 23%
Larger memory 7% 8% 32% 25% 28%
New product 25% 38% 21% 16%
Outside
Influence
Salesperson 12% 44% 36% 8%
Friends 7% 26% 46% 17% 4%
Family 14% 11% 36% 16% 23%
Price
Special offer 21% 42% 37%
Reduced price 13% 46% 41%
Reliability
Reliability 7% 10% 41% 26% 16%
Usability 18% 44% 21% 17%
46
Results by Gender
Table 4.3 Question 15 Respondents’ Feedback by Gender
Gender Percentage
Male 68%
New features, such as GPRS Female 32%
Male 56%
E-mail Female 44%
Male 67%
WWW-browser Female 33%
Male 69%
UMTS Female 31%
Male 47%
Large memory Female 53%
Male 36%
Colour display Female 64%
Male 42%
Familiar brand Female 58%
Factors:
Innovative: It shows the seven important variables and new innovative features
mobile phones have nowadays. The figures clearly tell the market that
innovative features determine the development and direction of mobile
phones in near future.
Multimedia: It has become the basic feature for mobile phones nowadays. Students
look forward to have higher resolution camera and higher quality
video/audio player to be installed inside the mobile phone.
47
Design: The majority of the students believe that design is one of the most
important factors that attract their attention as they are more fashion
orientated and keen to accept new ideas.
Brand &
Properties: It appears to be a mix of items that reflect the importance of brand and
properties such as advanced SMS-options and better memory capacity.
Outside
Influence: This refers to the importance of friend‟s, salesperson‟s and family‟s
recommendation. It shows individual students buying decision are not
really influenced by others.
Price: Reasonable price is welcomed by most of the students as they have

relatively low pocket money.
Reliability: Student do not pay much attention to this factor as they will most
probably change it before it breaks down.
In sum, the factor analysis suggests that of the variables selected for the analysis,
Factor 1 (innovative services), 2 (multimedia) and 6 (price) are seen as the most
important factors as most of the students choose to agree on these.
Respondents’ Feedback by Gender
The author also examined the importance of the factors between gender groups (Table
4.2). The results show the percentage of the mean differences. Based on the results,
there are quite a few statistically significant differences in the importance of the
decision variables between males and females. When buying a mobile phone, females
place more value on brand familiarity than males, whereas males seem to value more
enhanced data processing, networking and navigational features. It thus seems that
females use mainly voice services and therefore consider the brand of the phone as the
main decision variable, and place very little value to data processing and networking
features. Males, on the other hand, seem to utilize various enhanced features and
network services such as e-mail, and therefore, these variables play an important role
in their decision making.
48
Question 16: Do you think that the mal-function of current the phone is the
only reason for changing to a new phone?
The figures above shows that most of the people who change mobile phones do not do
so because of break down of current phone. The author believes there are many
factors that influence students to change mobile phones. For example, new designs,
new features, promotion and discounted monthly plan attract them.
Question 17: Do you think that all the functions are user friendly in the mobile
phone?
49
Based on figure 4.17 above, 33% agree and 22% strongly agree that not all the
functions are user friendly. However, only 13% and 5% agree and strongly agree that
they can use all the functions in their current mobile. It is because of the fast
development of commercial mobile phones, more and more functions are added into
the device. It becomes one of the selling points for mobile phones to students even
though it is not useful to everyone.
Question 18: Do you think that the mobile phone company should educate
consumers on how to use the new services?
Almost 77% (10% & 67%) of all the respondents agree at and strongly agree to
receive lessons from a mobile company to understand all the functions that are
available in their individual mobile phones. It is because all the respondents would
like to fully utilize their device to make it worth buying.
Only 23% (15%, 6% & 2%) would like to find it out by themselves or are satisfied to
just use the basic functions as they might think extra functions are not necessary for
them.
50
Question 19: Do you think that females are associated to trendy and impulsive
consumption styles?
As the author stated earlier young people are normally fashion orientated, and
following the trend is one of their daily activities. Based on the above figures, it
shows that it is true especially for young females. 34% strongly agree & 47% agree
that they tend to practice impulsive consumption style. Some females even decide to
buy new design phone without knowing the functions. In another word, they are
paying for the design but not the features. Mobile phone is one of their garnishes.
Question 20: Do you think that males have more technology enthusiasm?
51
Unlike the report from females, 44% of the male respondents agree and 29% strongly
agree that they pay more attention to the functions and features, for example, GPS,
GPRS and WLAN. The figure shows male students are more technology enthusiasm
when compared with female the buying style.
Question 21: Would you want to have two different models of the same brand
of phone?
Most of the respondents do not like to have two mobile phone of the same brand at a
time. The author believes it is because each model carries almost all the functions.
There is no point for students to carry two mobile phones.
52
Question 22: Do you prefer to choose a famous brand even though it is
expensive?
The above figures clearly show that brand image is influential toward consumers
buying behavior. Most respondents are willing to pay more for the famous brand due
to its stable quality, fine finishing, latest technology and excellence in after sale
services. Even though students cannot afford it, the author finds that they would prefer
to have branded phones.
Question 23: Would you rather not buy the latest model because of its high
price?
53
About 80% (61% strongly agree and 19% agree) choose not to buy the latest model
due to its high price. Most of the students are cost conscious and they will normally
wait for a few months after the new model has been released to the market as the new
model will sell at higher price.
Question 24: Do you think that new technological features are too expensive
to use, and new features are totally useless?
The figures above shows that most of the people (41% strongly agree and 13% agree)
agree that some features are too expensive to use currently. For example, it will be
very expensive to use GPRS to get mobile online. It will cost S$0.5 cent for 1KB data
(SingTel - Consumer, 2009). The alternative way is to use WLAN to access internet,
however, students could not receive modern signal whatever they go. In words,
WLAN is not very useful especially when there is a computer next to you.
54
Question 25: Do you think that mobile phone is just for vocal conversation?
Nowadays, due to the fast development of mobile technology, each mobile phone is
equipped with more and more functions. The mobile phone is not just used simply for
vocal connection. In fact, most of the students in Singapore would like to text each
other as service providers offer hundreds of FREE local SMS every month to go along
with the monthly plan. Students also like to listen to music and radio on their mobile.
Mobile phone becomes the “mini mobile device.”
Question 26: Do you pay attention to advertisement for new products that you
are interested in?
55
As we stated earlier, students are more fashion orientated. Accordingly to the figures
4.26, they will certainly pay more attention to the latest advertisement. Advertisement
will certainly influence students buying decisions.
Question 27: Do you agree that mobile phone advertisement help to promote
brand loyalty?
It is shown on figure 4.27 that 49% (17% strongly agree and 32% agree)
advertisement do help consumers to use back the same model mobile phone. The
mobile market is very competitive nowadays, new models from each manufacturer
come out within every 3 months time. Advertisements help to gain customers‟
confidence towards product quality and also let customers know their latest models.
56
Question 28: Do you think that cultural factors influence you when buying a
new mobile phone?
The cultural factor does influence buying decisions as nowadays people intend to
communicate through vocal call and text message rather than write. Therefore, in
modern country like Singapore, students prefer to choose mobile with easier text
message features compared to students in other places.
4.3 Analysis of Data
In this section, the author attempts to make a summary from all the survey results in
the questionnaire.
From all the demographic information about the respondents, it is found that most of
the mobile phones owned by the participants were Sony Ericsson. Total 44% of the
students choose to buy Sony Ericsson as this brand of mobile focuses on the function
of music and entertainment. Question 8 shows many of the students who had owned
more than two mobile phones always had the same brand but different model. It was
mentioned that students rarely changed their mobile phone brand owing to the fact
57
that it is much easier to stay with the same brand with familiar user-interface and
menus regardless of the model.
Question 9 tells that close to half of the students reported acquiring a new mobile
phone every half year and sometimes the changing cycle is even faster. While mobile
phones were also acquired due to new features including colour display and
polyphonic ring tones, some students bought new phones in order to get an innovator
and/or opinion leader status. Question 11 indicates that students used their mobile
phones mainly for calling, but other services were also popular. The most popular
service was sending text messages, followed by call out/in, phone‟s own services such
as calculator, calendar and games, and value added SMS-services. Fundamentally,
respondents agreed that price, brand, and size of the phone were the main factors
affecting their choice of the new model (Question 12 and 13).
The importance of price might be related to the student. Question 24 shows that they
having a maximum price that they are willing to pay for a new mobile phone. They
consider new technological features as too expensive to use. Question 25 indicated
that mobile phones are still seen as talking devices, and new properties were not
commonly used. Most students say that they never buy the newest model because
mobile phone manufacturers are well-known for their pricing strategy in which new
models while launched to the market cost more a couple of months when the price
begins to fall as shown at question 23.
Besides price and new features, brand was also found to be important, not only among
Singapore students but also among foreign students in Singapore. It was interesting to
find out that even though Sony Ericsson‟s brand was appreciated by the Singapore
students and by some of the foreign students as well. Song Ericsson‟s brand was
valued above all because of the easy-to-use interface.
58
4.4 Summary of Research Issue
In this section, the author attempts to make a summary from analysis of data. The
result had generated several buying patterns that could be linked up with author‟s
hypotheses. The purpose of this research is to support or deny some hypotheses that
had been made. In this study, there are four research issues that need to be addressed.
RI1: Demographic factors have an influence on the evaluations of different attributes

related to mobile phone choice. Specifically, gender will impact on the evaluations of
the attributes as male to be more technology savvy.
It was found that mobile phone choice and especially usage is consistent with
respondents‟ general consumption styles. The data showed that addictive use was
common among females and was related to trendy and impulsive consumption styles.
Instead, males were found to have more technology enthusiasm and trend-
consciousness. These attributes were then linked to impulsive consumption. The study
concluded that genders are becoming more unlike influence the purchase decision
mode by both males and females. Because individual differences in consumption
patterns are obviously identifiable, the author hypothesizes that background variables
especially have an influence on mobile phone choice.
RI2: When choosing between different mobile phone models, consumers value
familiar brands.
In addition, it seems that size and brand play to some extent an important role in
decision making. Liu (2002) for instance surveyed Asian mobile phone users and
found that size of the phone had no impact on mobile phone choice, but this finding
might be due to the fact that all competing brands have quite similar sized phones that
are small enough. Liu continues that the trend will actually be not towards smaller
phones but towards phones with better capability and larger screens. While companies
are advertising new models and services that do not yet exist, it according to the paper
59
signals to the market that the company is at the cutting edge of technology and shows
what will be available in the very near future. The sales of new phones will then be
driven by replacement rather than adoption.
RI 3: When choosing between different mobile phone models, students have a price
limit that restricts the choice to fewer models.
Price of the phone has been identified as a critical factor in the choice of the mobile
phone model, especially among students. Data shows that besides new technological
advances price was the most influential factor affecting the choice of a new mobile
phone model. The acquisition of a mobile phone is bundled with the operator contract,
phones are, generally speaking, free of charge, whereas in Singapore consumers pay
relatively high prices for their phones. On this basis, it should be noted that price of
the phone plays an important role in Singapore.
RI 4: New technical properties increase student‟s willingness to acquire new phone

models.
Another important aspect that has risen from different studies is that consumers
purchase new phones due to the fact that their existing one‟s capacity is not
appropriate referring to the idea that new technology features such as built-in cameras,
better memory, radio, more developed messaging services, and color displays are
influencing students‟ decisions to acquire new models. Thus it can be expected that
new features will influence the intention to acquire new mobile phones, and therefore
the following hypothesis was developed.
To summarize, students choice behavior can be studied through various frameworks

such as the problem solving paradigm and through students‟ choice from product class
through brand choice.
60
Chapter 5
Conclusion
The development of mobile phones is leading the market into a situation where the
basic need, communication, is actually broadened to new means of interaction and
personal digital assistance. In fact, mobile phone evolution will eventually lead to the
convergence of mobile phones and digital personal assistants (PDAs). Thus,
communication is not the only need that the mobile phones fulfill. Beyond voice,
three main trends shaping the so-called mobile culture have been identified: (1)
communication services such as voice, text and pictures, (2) wireless Internet services
such as browsing, corporate access and e-mail, and (3) different media services such
as motion pictures, games and music (Hansen, 2003).
This dissertation explores student‟s current perspectives regarding the mobile phone
market. The objective of this article was to examine students buying behavior of
mobile phones and to investigate the reasons underlying mobile phone change. It
provides a model to show all the key variables factors that might change consumers
final decision, for example, price, technical content, appearance and accessories. Key
determinants of student‟s preference are examined by questionnaires answered by
certain age group respondents. This study expects to understand more about the
students‟ individual buying behavior towards the fast changing mobile market; how
key factors that impact student‟s individual limitation on purchasing new mobile
phones and their perspectives regarding the mobile phone.
The study found strong evidence that although mobile phones are developing at a
rapid pace closer to personal digital assis-services the new models in the market
contain. Most importantly, students are familiar with new technical properties and
their purposes of use. The data showed that students expected price reduction seems
to be a factor in slowing the infusion of new models. Question 15 showed that seven
61
factors characterize mobile phone choice: innovative services, multimedia, design,
brand and basic properties, outside influence, price, and reliability. The first factor,
innovative services explained most of the variability of the variables indicating,
together with other statistical analyses conducted, that especially males tend to value
new services in choosing between mobile phones and intending to change their
current mobile phone to a newer model.
The theoretical part of the study outlined in total five hypotheses that were supported
by the empirical studies. Hypothesis 1 argued that demographic factors have an
influence on the evaluations of different attributes related to mobile phone choice.
Hypotheses 2 stated that when choosing between different mobile phone models,
consumers value familiar brands. The hypothesis was verified. Hypothesis 3 argued
that price of the mobile phone plays an important role in the choice. This got strong
support among students as well as in the survey. Hypothesis 4 stated that new
technical properties increased students‟ willingness to acquire new models. This
received some support among the questionnaire.
Finally, From a theoretical viewpoint, this article contributed to the buying decision
making process for mobile phones by looking at students motives and examining the
importance of different attributes affecting the actual choice. First, although mobile
phone choice is affected by specific phone attributes, students evaluate and rank-order,
choice is often made without detailed evaluation and understanding of the properties
and features new models have. Second, decision making generally follows a rational
decision making process in which different attributes are evaluated, but also has some
symbolic nature as brand was regarded as important among many study participants.
The most remarkable implication for mobile phone manufacturers, resellers and other
value chain members is that advertising of new mobile phone models should go
beyond highlighting properties to highlighting what users can do with all the new
technical features. Mobile phone advertising has long been based on eliciting
properties and abbreviations (e.g., GPRS, EDGE, and Bluetooth) that are fully
62
understood only by technology savvy consumers. Therefore, more attention should be
paid to educative advertising and marketing. The importance of the reseller becomes
constantly more important as we are entering the smart phone era–meaning that
phones have so many properties and features that users need both hands-on
instructions and better post purchase service than before. Furthermore, as Singapore
students have high mobile phone penetration and active mobile phone users, the
results obtained from consumers might guide other research conducted in other
countries. However, we should bear in mind that many factors, such as legislation and
international differences in culture for instance, definitely have an impact on results.
Although the results of the study are tentative, the findings contribute to the existing
though scarce literature on student behavior in mobile phone markets. For managers
the results provide interesting aspects of mobile phone choice on one hand by arguing
that students tend to value properties more than other people‟s opinion, and by
claiming that operator choice is mostly affected by price and innovation. At present,
the operator market in Singapore is one of the most aggressively competed markets,
and the competition is driven by price discounts.
Although this piece of research provides some insights into the factors that influence
the choice of a mobile phone model, the work is still at an early stage and certain
limitations concerning the research setting should be noted in order to guide future
research of this phenomenon. More research is needed to leverage the findings and
provide better and more in-depth implications for both theory and practice. To specify,
the research presented measured its subjects‟ perceptions of different factors affecting
their choice of a mobile phone model at a given point in time. In the future with the
use of a longitudinal study it might be possible to get a broader and deeper picture of
the phenomenon under scrutiny.
63
Chapter 6
Recommendations
Mobile marketing has arrived on mass market nowadays, never before did so many
people in different age group and different income levels have mobile phones. Many
people are having at least one mobile and the numbers are growing rapidly.
This dissertation is focused on students‟ mobile market as this group of people is more
fashion orientated and more willing to accept new design and new features. Although,
the success of 3G depends on the focus of operator launch strategies as well as key
services such as peer- to- peer communication and content available, benefits accruing
from this new communication technology are undeniable, but in order to conquer
students market, each mobile manufacturer needs to put in more capital and workforce
in R&D to provide more new models to the market. For example, phones with high
resolution cameras, bigger screen for easier internet access, more sensible touch
screen.
Working together with local telecommunication company to provide a package plan is

another alternative way to keep the customers. The author believes if consumers could
receive loyalty or reward point for buying same brand phone, it will definitely
improve customer loyalty. Authorized dealers could even offer higher trade in price
for regular customers.
The author believes consistently improving features coupled with reasonable price
will help mobile phone manufacturers to keep their customers. And operator is needed
in order to get a better understanding of consumer motives. Marketers should consider
using advertisement, which may play a role in making attributes important to
consumers. The author suggests two objectives of short-term and long term brand
building for mobile phone. In the short term, managers need to identify a specific
64
attribute to be communicated to the market, based on which message gives the best
execution. The key aim is to develop likeable advertisement. In the long-term,
managers need to build up a consumer‟s perception about the brand to make it the one
most often thought of and make it difficult for competitors to have access to the
preferences of consumers.
65
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Appendix A
Questionnaire
Brief Information about the survey
I am a post graduate student doing my Master in Business Admiration with the

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff. I am now conducting a marketing research of
what influence consumer’s behavior in purchasing mobile phones. The questionnaire
below will take you a few minutes only and your valuable responses will be very
useful for my academic research. Information collected will be treated with
confidentiality. It will be used and analyzed only for the purpose of this research.
Thank you for sparing the time to answer the following questions.
Instruction
Please fill your answer on the blank space or tick (√) the answers that best represent
your thought.
Section A: Personal Context
1. What is your gender?

Male Female
2. What is your age range?
<17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 >26
3. What is the monthly income of your family?
$1,000 and below $1,000 but less than 2,000 $2,000 but less
than 3,000 $3,000 but less than 4,000 $5,000 and above
4. How old were you when you owned your own your first mobile phone?
<10 10-13 14-17 18-21 22-25 >25
5. Do you only using one mobile phone at a time?
Yes No
6. How much did you spend on current mobile phone when you bought it?
$100 and below $100 but less than 300 $300 but less than
71
600 $600 but less than 1,000 $1,000 and above
7. What is the brand of the mobile phone are you using now?
Nokia Sony Ericsson Samsung Motorola LG

Apple (iPhone) Others (Please specify)
Section B: Consumer Behavior
8. Would you change the brand on your next purchase?
Yes No Not decided yet
9. On the average how long would you normally take to change your mobile phones?
Less than 6 months 6 months but less than 1 year

1 year but less than 1.5 years 1.5 years but less than 2 years
More than 2 years
10. Where do you normally buy your mobile phone?
Official customer service center Electronic goods retail chain store

Mobile Telecom services provider Promotion counter
Mobile Phone retail shop Others (Please specify)
11. What is/ are the usage(s) of your mobile phone?
(Can you rank it from 1 to 8, 1 means most important, 8 means least important)
Call out/ in SMS Entertainment (e.g. Games, MP3, etc)
Calculator Schedule Clock Internet
12. What features would you like in the mobile phone of the future?
Innovative Multimedia Design Basic Properties
13. What is the primary factor affecting your choice of mobile phone?
Innovative Multimedia Design Brand & Basic Properties

Outside Influence Price Reliability
14. Is your family involved in making decisions when purchasing a new mobile?
Yes No Not sure
72
15. When purchasing a new mobile phone, how important are the following factors:
1 2 3 4 5
(Most unimportant) (Unimportant) (Normal) (Important) (Most important)
Innovative
Browsing WWW
E-mail
UMTS
Java
WAP- services
New features
Colour screen
Multimedia
Multimedia player
Built-in camera
Design
Appearance
Styling
Small size
Brand & Basic Properties

Known brand
Domestic product
Advanced SMS
Larger memory
New product
Outside Influence
Salesperson
Friends
Family
Price
Special offer
Reduced price
Reliability
Reliability
Usability
73
16. Do you think that the mal-function of current the phone is the only reason for
changing to a new phone?
Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
17. Do you think that all the functions are user friendly in the mobile phone?
18. Do you think that the mobile phone company should educate consumers on how
to use the new services?
19. Do you think that females are associated to trendy and impulsive consumption
styles?
20. Do you think that males have more technology enthusiasm?
21. Would you want to have two different models of the same brand of phone?
22. Do you prefer to choose a famous brand even though it is expensive?
23. Would you rather not buy the latest model because of its high price?
24. Do you think that new technological features are too expensive to use, and new
features are totally useless
25. Do you think that mobile phone is just for vocal conversation?
26. Do you pay attention to advertisement for new products that you are interested in?
27. Do you agree that mobile phone advertisement help to promote brand loyalty?
28. Do you think that cultural factors influence you when buying a new mobile phone?
This is the end of questionnaire. Thank you for your cooperation.
74
Appendix B
Results from the Analysis of Responses College by College
Q 1 What is your gender?
College A College B College C Aggregate

Male 43 52% 41 47% 40 46% 124 47%
Female 40 48% 47 53% 52 54% 139 53%
Q 2 What is your age range?

<17 2 2% 3 3% 6 7% 11 4%
18-19 5 6% 8 9% 13 14% 26 10%
20-21 23 28% 19 22% 21 23% 63 24%
22-23 48 58% 41 47% 24 26% 113 43%
24-25 5 6% 15 17% 25 27% 45 17%
26 0 0% 2 2% 3 3% 5 2%
Q 3 What is your family monthly income?

<1,000 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
1,000-2,000 2 2% 1 1% 1 1% 5 2%
2,000-3,000 3 4% 12 14% 11 12% 24 9%
3,000-4,000 15 18% 20 23% 21 23% 55 21%
>5,000 63 76% 55 63% 59 64% 179 68%
Q 4 How old are you owning your first mobile phone?

<10 2 2% 3 3% 3 3% 8 3%
10-13 7 8% 11 13% 16 17% 34 13%
14-17 50 60% 41 47% 51 55% 142 54%
18-21 10 12% 17 19% 12 13% 39 15%
22-25 8 10% 9 10% 10 11% 26 10%
>25 6 7% 7 8% 0 0% 13 5%
Q 5 Do you own more than one mobile phone?

Yes 77 93% 82 93% 83 90% 242 92%
No 6 7% 6 7% 9 10% 21 8%
75
Q 6 How much did you spent on current mobile phone when you bought it?
<100 9 11% 14 16% 16 17% 39 15%
100-300 16 19% 21 24% 36 39% 74 28%
300-600 34 41% 38 43% 31 34% 103 39%
600-1,000 18 22% 11 13% 8 9% 37 14%
>1,000 6 7% 4 5% 1 1% 11 4%
Q 7 What brand of mobile phone are you using now?

Nokia 31 37% 28 32% 23 25% 82 31%
Sony
Ericsson 36 43% 39 44% 41 45% 116 44%
Samsung 3 4% 8 9% 4 4% 16 6%
Motorola 4 5% 5 6% 4 4% 13 5%
LG 2 2% 3 3% 3 3% 8 3%
Apple 2 2% 3 3% 6 7% 11 4%
Others 5 6% 2 2% 11 12% 18 7%
Q 8 Would you change the brand when on your next purchase?

Yes 11 13% 8 9% 5 5% 24 9%
No 10 12% 19 22% 21 23% 50 19%
Not decided yet 62 75% 61 69% 66 72% 189 72%
Q 9 On the average how long do you normally take to change your mobile phones?

< 6 months 27 33% 12 14% 24 26% 63 24%
6 months-1 year 40 48% 56 64% 33 36% 129 49%
1 year-1.5 years 7 8% 8 9% 19 21% 34 13%
1.5 years-2 years 6 7% 8 9% 10 11% 24 9%
>2 years 3 4% 4 5% 6 7% 13 5%
Q 10 Where did you normally buy your mobile phone?

Official customer
service centre 11 13% 25 28% 22 24% 58 22%
Electronic goods
retail chain store 13 16% 11 13% 8 9% 32 12%
76
Mobile Telecom
services provider 40 48% 29 33% 36 39% 105 40%
Promotion
counter 10 12% 13 15% 11 12% 34 13%
Mobile Phone
retail shop 4 5% 6 7% 8 9% 18 7%
Others 5 6% 4 5% 7 8% 16 6%
Q 11 What is/ are the usage(s) of your mobile phone?

SMS 80 96% 83 94% 89 97% 252 96%
Call out/ in 73 88% 82 93% 87 95% 242 92%
Clock 59 71% 61 69% 72 78% 192 73%
Entertainment 25 30% 31 35% 26 28% 82 31%
Internet 24 29% 23 26% 21 23% 68 26%
Q 12 What kind of functions you expect the mobile phone to improve in the future?
Innovative 10 12% 16 18% 11 12% 37 14%
Multimedia 19 23% 25 28% 32 35% 76 29%
Design 38 46% 33 38% 37 40% 108 41%
Properties 16 19% 14 16% 12 13% 42 16%
Q 13 What is the primary factor affecting your choice of mobile phone?

Innovative 5 6% 21 24% 11 12% 37 14%
Multimedia 11 13% 8 9% 7 8% 26 10%
Design 18 22% 21 24% 32 35% 71 27%
Brand&
Properties 11 13% 16 18% 5 5% 32 12%
Outside
Influence 7 8% 3 3% 3 3% 13 5%
Price 26 31% 17 19% 25 27% 68 26%
Reliability 5 6% 2 2% 9 10% 16 6%
Q 14 Does your family involved in making decision when purchasing a new mobile?
Yes 24 29% 23 26% 16 17% 63 24%
No 49 59% 58 66% 72 78% 179 68%
Not sure 10 12% 7 8% 4 4% 21 8%
77
Q 15 When purchasing a new mobile phone, how important are the following factors:
Innovative College A College B College C Aggregate

WWW
Most unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 2 2% 1 1% 2 2% 5 2%
Important 16 19% 9 10% 4 4% 29 11%
Most important 65 78% 78 89% 86 93% 229 87%
E-mail
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 17 20% 16 18% 14 15% 47 18%
Important 11 13% 9 10% 4 4% 24 9%
Most important 55 66% 63 72% 74 80% 192 73%
UMTS
Unimportant 16 19% 21 24% 23 25% 60 23%
Normal 15 18% 19 22% 34 37% 68 26%
Important 12 14% 16 18% 22 24% 50 19%
Most important 23 28% 24 27% 6 7% 53 20%
Java
Unimportant 24 29% 19 22% 10 11% 53 20%
Normal 25 30% 32 36% 38 41% 95 36%
Important 19 23% 22 25% 25 27% 66 25%
Most important 6 7% 9 10% 13 14% 29 11%
WAP
Unimportant 8 10% 19 22% 23 25% 50 19%
Normal 48 58% 32 36% 30 33% 110 42%
Important 16 19% 15 17% 14 15% 45 17%
Most important 4 5% 11 13% 17 18% 32 12%
New features
Unimportant 5 6% 12 14% 7 8% 24 9%
Normal 51 61% 46 52% 66 72% 163 62%
Important 25 30% 22 25% 16 17% 63 24%
Most important 2 2% 8 9% 3 3% 13 5%
Colour screen
Unimportant 10 12% 8 9% 6 7% 24 9%
Normal 14 17% 9 10% 9 10% 32 12%
Important 37 45% 52 59% 65 71% 155 59%
Most important 22 27% 19 22% 12 13% 53 20%
78
Multimedia College A College B College C Aggregate
Player
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 10 12% 16 18% 21 23% 47 18%
Important 8 10% 11 13% 5 5% 24 9%
Most important 65 78% 61 69% 66 72% 192 73%
Built-in Camera
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 6 7% 11 13% 4 4% 21 8%
Important 13 16% 9 10% 17 18% 39 15%
Most important 64 77% 68 77% 71 77% 203 77%
Design College A College B College C Aggregate

Appearance
Unimportant 5 6% 7 8% 12 13% 24 9%
Normal 11 13% 21 24% 23 25% 55 21%
Important 62 75% 58 66% 43 47% 163 62%
Most important 5 6% 2 2% 14 15% 21 8%
Styling
Unimportant 5 6% 7 8% 12 13% 24 9%
Normal 11 13% 21 24% 23 25% 55 21%
Important 62 75% 58 66% 43 47% 163 62%
Most important 5 6% 2 2% 14 15% 21 8%
Small size
Unimportant 8 10% 11 13% 15 16% 34 13%
Normal 29 35% 26 30% 24 26% 79 30%
Important 41 49% 48 55% 32 35% 121 46%
Most important 5 6% 3 3% 21 23% 29 11%
Brand & Basic
Properties College A College B College C Aggregate
Domestic
product
Unimportant 20 24% 16 18% 9 10% 45 17%
Normal 20 24% 30 34% 34 37% 84 32%
Important 17 20% 22 25% 29 32% 68 26%
Most important 4 5% 3 3% 9 10% 16 6%
Advanced SMS
Unimportant 15 18% 11 13% 6 7% 32 12%
Normal 41 49% 33 38% 34 37% 108 41%
Important 13 16% 23 26% 27 29% 63 24%
Most important 14 17% 21 24% 25 27% 60 23%
79
Larger memory
Unimportant 6 7% 4 5% 11 12% 21 8%
Normal 24 29% 32 36% 28 30% 84 32%
Important 26 31% 24 27% 16 17% 66 25%
Most important 29 35% 22 25% 23 25% 74 28%
New product
Unimportant 17 20% 23 26% 26 28% 66 25%
Normal 28 34% 39 44% 33 36% 100 38%
Important 26 31% 14 16% 15 16% 55 21%
Most important 17 20% 12 14% 13 14% 42 16%
Outside
Influence College A College B College C Aggregate
Salesperson
Unimportant 35 42% 39 44% 41 45% 116 44%
Normal 28 34% 32 36% 35 38% 95 36%
Important 5 6% 9 10% 7 8% 21 8%
Most important 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Friends
Unimportant 18 22% 24 27% 26 28% 68 26%
Normal 42 51% 40 45% 39 42% 121 46%
Important 12 14% 16 18% 17 18% 45 17%
Most important 5 6% 4 5% 2 2% 11 4%
Family
Unimportant 12 14% 9 10% 8 9% 29 11%
Normal 17 20% 46 52% 32 35% 95 36%
Important 21 25% 8 9% 13 14% 42 16%
Most important 25 30% 16 18% 19 21% 60 23%
Price College A College B College C Aggregate

Special offer
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 24 29% 17 19% 14 15% 55 21%
Important 36 43% 41 47% 33 36% 110 42%
Most important 23 28% 30 34% 45 49% 97 37%
Reduced price
Unimportant 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Normal 6 7% 11 13% 17 18% 34 13%
Important 46 55% 33 38% 42 46% 121 46%
Most important 31 37% 44 50% 33 36% 108 41%
80
Reliability College A College B College C Aggregate
Reliability
Unimportant 11 13% 6 7% 9 10% 26 10%
Normal 36 43% 35 40% 37 40% 108 41%
Important 12 14% 20 23% 36 39% 68 26%
Most important 17 20% 19 22% 7 8% 42 16%
Usability
Unimportant 24 29% 13 15% 10 11% 47 18%
Normal 47 57% 32 36% 37 40% 116 44%
Important 7 8% 28 32% 20 22% 55 21%
Most important 5 6% 15 17% 25 27% 45 17%
Results by Gender
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female
GPRS 64% 36% 68% 28% 72% 31% 68% 32%
E-mail 39% 46% 60% 39% 69% 46% 56% 44%
WWW-
66% 29% 62% 34% 72% 37% 67% 33%
browser
UMTS 78% 32% 56% 28% 72% 33% 69% 31%
Large
44% 51% 48% 62% 49% 46% 47% 53%
memory
Color
42% 51% 40% 77% 27% 63% 36% 64%
display
Familiar
39% 61% 39% 49% 48% 65% 42% 58%
brand
Q 16 Do you think that breaking down of current phone is the only reason for
changing new phone?

SA 7 8% 11 13% 6 7% 24 9%
Agree 11 13% 14 16% 17 18% 42 16%
Neutral 21 25% 23 26% 35 38% 79 30%
Disagree 34 41% 26 30% 29 32% 89 34%
SD 10 12% 14 16% 5 5% 29 11%
Q 17 Do you think that all the functions are user friendly in mobile phone?

SA 6 7% 4 5% 3 3% 13 5%
Agree 6 7% 11 13% 17 18% 34 13%
Neutral 18 22% 33 38% 20 22% 71 27%
Disagree 31 37% 21 24% 35 38% 87 33%
81
SD 22 27% 19 22% 17 18% 58 22%
Q 18 Do you think that the mobile phone company should educate consumers to use
the new services?

SA 2 2% 13 15% 11 12% 26 10%
Agree 59 71% 53 60% 64 70% 176 67%
Neutral 15 18% 16 18% 9 10% 39 15%
Disagree 6 7% 4 5% 6 7% 16 6%
SD 1 1% 2 2% 2 2% 5 2%
Q 19 Do you think that females were related to trendy and impulsive consumption
styles?

SA 27 33% 38 43% 24 26% 89 34%
Agree 41 49% 32 36% 51 55% 124 47%
Neutral 8 10% 13 15% 11 12% 32 12%
Disagree 6 7% 3 3% 4 4% 13 5%
SD 1 1% 2 2% 2 2% 5 2%
Q 20 Do you think that males were found to have more technology enthusiasm?

SA 19 23% 31 35% 26 28% 76 29%
Agree 39 47% 35 40% 42 46% 116 44%
Neutral 15 18% 16 18% 14 15% 45 17%
Disagree 9 11% 4 5% 8 9% 21 8%
SD 1 1% 2 2% 2 2% 5 2%
Q 21 Would you want to have two different models of the same brand phone?

SA 6 7% 3 3% 7 8% 16 6%
Agree 2 2% 11 13% 11 12% 24 9%
Neutral 23 28% 22 25% 18 20% 63 24%
Disagree 45 54% 31 35% 37 40% 113 43%
SD 7 8% 21 24% 19 21% 47 18%
82
Q 22 Do you prefer to choose a famous brand even though it is expensive?

SA 10 12% 5 6% 3 3% 18 7%
Agree 48 58% 47 53% 48 52% 142 54%
Neutral 7 8% 15 17% 25 27% 47 18%
Disagree 12 14% 12 14% 13 14% 37 14%
SD 6 7% 9 10% 3 3% 18 7%
Q 23 Would you rather not buy the lasts model because of its high price?

SA 5 6% 12 14% 33 36% 50 19%
Agree 59 71% 53 60% 48 52% 160 61%
Neutral 14 17% 14 16% 6 7% 34 13%
Disagree 4 5% 3 3% 1 1% 8 3%
SD 1 1% 6 7% 4 4% 11 4%
Q 24 Do you think that new technological features as too expensive to use, and new
features as totally useless

SA 9 11% 10 11% 15 16% 34 13%
Agree 39 47% 31 35% 38 41% 108 41%
Neutral 22 27% 29 33% 23 25% 74 28%
Disagree 11 13% 13 15% 5 5% 29 11%
SD 2 2% 5 6% 11 12% 18 7%
Q 25 Do you think that mobile phone is just for Vocal conversation?

SA 5 6% 12 14% 4 4% 21 8%
Agree 8 10% 11 13% 7 8% 26 10%
Neutral 34 41% 25 28% 23 25% 82 31%
Disagree 34 41% 37 42% 53 58% 124 47%
SD 2 2% 3 3% 5 5% 11 4%
Q 26 Do you pay attention to advertisement for new products that you are interested
in?

SA 13 16% 32 36% 49 53% 95 36%
Agree 51 61% 42 48% 31 34% 124 47%
Neutral 13 16% 11 13% 8 9% 32 12%
83
Disagree 6 7% 3 3% 4 4% 13 5%
SD 0 0% 0 0% 0 0% 0 0%
Q 27 Do you agree that mobile phone advertisement help to promote to brand loyalty?

SA 18 22% 19 22% 9 10% 45 17%
Agree 26 31% 24 27% 34 37% 84 32%
Neutral 19 23% 18 20% 23 25% 60 23%
Disagree 15 18% 19 22% 13 14% 47 18%
SD 5 6% 8 9% 13 14% 26 10%
Q 28 Do you think that cultural factors influence you when buying a new mobile
phone?

SA 9 11% 10 11% 10 11% 29 11%
Agree 62 75% 53 60% 64 70% 179 68%
Neutral 4 5% 12 14% 5 5% 21 8%
Disagree 7 8% 10 11% 9 10% 26 10%
SD 1 1% 3 3% 4 4% 8 3%
84

Dissertation Student Mobile Phone Market Singapore

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Dissertation Student Mobile Phone Market Singapore

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UNIVERSITY OF WALES INSTITUTE, CARDIFF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

A study of student mobile phone market

Student ID: 07004691

Supervisor: Mr. David Goh

March 11, 2009

Signed ………………………………………………………. (Candidate)

Signed ………………………………………………………. (Candidate)

Signed ………………………………………………………. (Candidate)

Chapter 2 Literature Review 7

Chapter 3 Research Methodology 29

Chapter 4 Data Analysis 35

Figure 1.1 The Beginning of the Smart Phone Era 2

Table 3.1 Qualitative and Quantitative research 31

In today‟s world of rapidly changing technology, consumer requirements are also

The worldwide market penetration of mobile phones is increasing rapidly and is

Figure 1.1: The Beginning of the Smart Phone Era

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Text, rings Color bitmaps MMS Mobile video/audio

Source: Adopted from Karjaluoto et al. (2003a & 2003b)

There are three dominant telecoms providers in Singapore - Singapore Telecom,

1.1 Research Problems

1.2 Importance of the Study

Although mobile phones have become a fundamental part of personal communication

1.3 Objectives of the Study

1.4 Research Methodology

1.5 Contribution to Existing Knowledge

From a theoretical viewpoint, this dissertation contributed to the buying decision

1.6 Study Hypotheses

There are some limitations in this research:

specific region in Singapore and hence might be biased.

1.8 Description of proposed chapters

Throughout this research 6 chapters are discussed.

Chapter 5: Provides several conclusions of the whole research to express whether

Literature review is an unambiguous and logically arranged work which is presented

This dissertation proposes a framework that helps to understand students‟ behavior of

Marketing personal need to understand the different behavior patterns and be

Furthermore, by analyzing consumers‟ buying habits, manufacturer can understand

The key assumption underlying the marketing concept is that to be successful, a

2.2.1 Product concept

2.2.2 Selling concept

Therefore, to operate successfully, organizations must have an explicit – rather than an

2.3 Consumer behavior

Consumer behavior is a multidisciplinary field that integrates a vast array of

Figure 2.1: The pyramid of consumer behavior

Source: Solomon, Bamossy, Askegaard, Hogg, 2007

Firm’s marketing strategies Sociocultural environment

Need recognition Psychological field

Post- decision behavior

Post purchase evaluation

Source: Schiffman, et al., (2008) p. 14

Consumers adjust purchasing behavior based on their individual needs and

Figure 2.3: Research Framework

Source: Created for this research

Research Issue 1 (RI1) : Demographic factors have an influence on the

2.5.1 Personal characteristics

A person's characteristics and ways of behaving which determines his or her

Source: Jobber, 2004

Consumers‟ perception impacts their purchasing decision. Perception is the process of

An attitude is a predisposition, created by learning and experience, to respond in a

Innovativeness lifestyle, innovativeness has been employed to predict customers‟

Figure 2.5 below illustrates the model of Personal characteristics factor.

Figure 2.5: Model of Personal characteristics