A STUDY OF BUYING BEHAVIOUR TOWARD LAPTOP BASED ON CONSUMER PRECEPTION A PROJECT REPORT

Submitted by NAVEEN KUMAR Registration no:-11-131 in partial fulfillment for the award of the degree Of MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Submitted to Mr.kamaldeep Singh

GNA-IMT Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar 2011-2013

PREFACE Experience is the best teacher. The saying plays a very pivotal role in our

curriculum where in we try and understand the nuances of the theoretical world with a blend of practical experience. Its very important to understand how and where to implement what we have studied. Knowledge in itself is a continuous process. Getting practiced knowledge is an important thing for existence for any business concern in the competition prevailing in an industry a total awareness is the first and foremost thing necessary from all aspects, working smarter seems to be as important as working harder and longer. I completed this project on CUSTOMER PERCEPT ION in part fulfillment of our MBA curriculum. The knowledge we garnered through this exposure with the outside world will help us in taking a giant leap towards understanding customers behavior and preferences.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is my pleasure to acknowledge the help we have received from different individuals and all the teachers during the project period. My first sincere appreciation and gratitude goes to respected Mr.kamaldeep, Project guide, for his guidance, constructive comments, valuable suggestions and inspirations. During the entire session, we have received endless help from him. Also, it gives me immense pleasure to again express my sincere and wholehearted sense of gratitude to our esteemed Mr. Kamaldeep and all the teachers, for their invaluable and untiring guidance and supervision throughout our Project Period .To derive benefits of their enormous experience, it is a matter of great privilege for us. Finally, I wish to say thanks to all the people who have helped us for their kind cooperation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sl. No 1) 2) 3) 4)

INDEX

PAGE NO

Industry profile Introduction of topic Literature survey Objective of studies Research methodology Analysis & finding of study Questionnaire Respondents Bibliography

5-15 16-18 19-20 21-22

5) 6) 7) 8) 9)

23-25 26-33 34-38 39 40-41

CHAPTER-1 INDUSTRY PROFILE

Laptop Industry INTRODUCTION The focus will never be on the technology. Rather, its the pedagogy that counts. Its worth keeping in mind that laptops are only a tool. Theyre at our disposal to make learning easier, and more enjoyable and meaningful for children. (Holmes, 2008) One to one laptop programs are expanding rapidly across the world with large scale initiatives such as Microsofts Anytime anywhere learning and the One laptop per child program. Across the United States there are large programs in Maine, Henrico County Virginia, New Orleans Louisiana and o ther pilot programs in Texas, Florida, New Hampshire and California. Laptop programs are diverse, taking on a variety forms, e.g. schools lease laptops, parent-purchased laptops, mobile laptop carts or system -provided laptops. These programs are set up to achieve a wode variety of goals such as: Improvement of access to technology for all students Support for students to become computer literate especially those who are reluctant to use technology or do not have ready access to a computer Help for students to make sense of complex data Provision of more equitable access to educational resources and learning opportunities Provision of a broader range and timeliness of resources available in the classroom Improvement in student learning/academic achievemen t Preparation for students to compete in the technology-rich workplaces An increase in economic competitiveness of local region in the global marketplace Transformation of education to provide a differentiated, problem -based learning demanding higher-order thinking skills in a student-centred classroom with one-to-one laptops acting as a catalysis for reform toward a more constructivist and inquiry-based learning.

Whilst laptop programs differ in many ways, there are commonalities across most, such as: students have individual access to computers loaded with contemporary software such as word processing, spreadsheets and multimedia creation tools access to internet is through the schools wireless networks the focus on using laptops in the classroom is for research, assignments, assessment tasks and presentations.

It is really not about the laptops. Its about what the 1:1 laptops enable in terms of new ways of teaching and learning. (Dunleavy, Dextert & Heinecket, 2007) Limited access to computers in schools is a reason commonly given by teachers to explain the limited use of technology in teaching and learning. If computers are in labs, timetabling difficulties can reduce the opportunities for learning with computers. For computers to make a significant difference, students need continued access. One -to-one laptop programs arguably offer the greatest potential of educational technologies to date in that they place the most power and versatility in students hands, while wireless network connections open vast new vistas for communication and collaboration. (Grimes & Warschauer, 2008) Over the last year, laptops (especially netbooks) are continuing to cost less, weigh less (resulting in increased portability) and become more powerful, particularly with increasing availability of wireless connectivity enabling affordability of universal access to become a reality. Laptop Overview:

According to IDC India, a premier global market intelligence firm, the laptop market has registered 79% Year-on-Year (YoY) growth during 2006. The laptop sale is growing at much faster rate than projected. India's personal computer market is undergoing a major transition. However, laptop computers cannot completely wipe out desktop computers, because both are designed to meet different needs or different consumer segments. According to a top official of HCL Info Systems, market share of laptops would be 35 -40% in the next two years.

Major Players:

The major players in the laptop category are: o Hewlett Packard (HP) o IBM

o Toshiba o Compaq o Dell Computers o Sony

Growth Drivers:

Indian Laptop market in now in sync with global market. It was in 2005 that sales of laptops surpassed the sales of desktop computers for the first time in India. The Laptop market is growing at a fast rate because of change in work life of consumers. As the need for "anytime anywhere" access to information is increasing, the sales of Laptops are also increasing. Other factors that are responsible for the hike in sales figure are reduction in prices and affordability. Laptops are now sold at approximately half the price at which they were sold two years ago. Laptops prices are now almost at par with the desktop computer prices. The third most important factor is duty free import of Laptops as a personal baggage that has helped a lot in increasing the penetration level of the product among the consumer population. Awareness about laptops has also increased over the years.

1.

Growth of laptop is higher than desktop:

2. Worldwide IT spending forecast:

3.

Global Pc market value forecast:

4. Global PC market Volume forecast:

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5.

Asia Pacific Market Share by value:

6. Worldwide PC Shipment Market Share:

7. Worldwide PC Shipment Forecast by region:

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8. Market share of the netbooks worldwide:

9. Indian Market share:

The laptop computer market in India grew by 84.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2007 against the corresponding quarter last year, contributing significantly to the overall PC market growth of 25.1 per cent. More than five lakh notebook PCs were sold in the quarter, a study by market analyst IDC India said today. Hewlett Packard (HP) retained the top slot with a market share of 37.8 per cent, while Lenovo occupied the second position and Acer third.

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Notebook PC sale in home and 'Small Office and Home Office' (SOHO) segments grew by 166 per cent and made up 43 per cent of the total business. The next largest contributors were enterprise and education segments. "Portability, rather than mobility has emerged as the 'number one' driver for the sustained growth in notebook PC shipments in India," Kapil Dev Singh, Country Manager, IDC India, said. Given the choice of portability, flexibility and ease of use and narrowing of price-performance gap that once existed between portables and desktops, consumers are almost overwhelmingly inclined to buy notebook PCs, he said. Further, laptop sales recorded an year-on-year growth of 104 per cent in the northern states of the country, followed by south ern states at 80 per cent. Meanwhile, the desktop PC shipments showed a growth of 10.9 per cent in the same quarter.

Universal access solves some problems, but presents new ones. (Heller McFarlane, 2008) Student learning devices (laptops/netbooks) whic h are mobile and available at school and beyond can empower students to take control of their own learning. This is an unprecedented opportunity for transformation of teaching and learning. All students must have access to modern learning tools and challen ging curriculum to move towards achievement of 21 st century skills. Schools need to infuse these skills to meet community needs and students expectations. One -toone computing can provide a real -world, relevant education that can improve thinking and problem-solving skills and information and communication technology (ICT) skills. Laptop initiatives can change the way we think about teaching and learning. Students with laptops have immediate access to computing, researching and productivity technologies. Technology can also change the way we store, organise and manage information and share our work. Laptop classrooms provide more opportunities for discussion about information: its source and validity, its intended audience and design features thus building on students information literacy skills. Of course, we need to acknowledge that not everyone will be enthusiastic and may remain unconvinced of the place of technology such as one -to-one computing in the classroom. There are many valid concerns and issues that need to be faced. Our focus should be on the educational opportunities and benefits for our students, rather than be sidetracked by administrative and other discussions, without relegating their importance.

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Meanwhile, back in schools in NSW, teachers will be wondering what sort of support and professional learning they will receive and how they will adapt to the new technology in their classrooms. Principals will be considering administration of the devices and may be planning discussions with their l ocal community prior to the introduction of the laptops as parents will probably have an increased interest in the impacts of laptops on their childrens learning and safety in an online world. To inform, clarify and crystallise our thinking, this paper e xamines the following questions: The one-to-one laptop environment What does it look like? Classroom uses of laptops What do students actually do with laptops? Effects on student learning How do laptops support student learning? Factors influencing successful implementation What do we need to do? Support for teachers What does effective teacher support look like?

THE ONE-TO-ONE LAPTOP ENVIRONMENT What is unique about a ubiquitous computing environment? Teachers believe that students are more engaged and more motivated to learn leading to higher -quality work. The environment facilitates more authentic, collaborative and project based learning. (Swan, Kratcoski, Mazzer, Schenker, 2005) Todays students expect their school assignments to be relevant , challenging, and related to the real-world. They value problem solving, communication and the chance to collaborate as adults do in the real world. (Barrios, 2004) Teaching and learning activities can be quite different in a one -to-one laptop environment. In a laptop classroom: technology is used frequently technology is incorporated to a much greater degree than other classrooms attendance and discipline rates improve student motivation and engagement is higher than other classrooms student (and parent) attitudes to school improve student achievement increases students access a broader range of resources there tends to be more student-centred strategies such as project -based learning and independent inquiry/research there are more examples of cooperative learning than in other classrooms the teacher is more likely to act as coach/facilitator the relationship between teacher and student can change computers are the main writing tool (and students tend to write more with higher quality text) students primarily work alone or in a large group students use computers at home more frequently for school work.

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A comparison of regular classrooms and technology-rich classrooms suggest that pedagogical approaches are different. In a regular classroom: teachers spend more time giving instruction, leading discussions, asking and answering questions and managing the classroom; students spend more time asking and answering questions, working individually and as a whole group. In a technology-enabled classroom: teachers spend most of their time in demonstration, directing activities and talking to students; students spend more time working on projects, working in small groups, talking to and listening to other students. A technology-rich classroom provides opportunities for a more student-centred, project-based and small group orientated learning environment. What might a digital education revolution classroom look like in your curriculum area? Teachers spend less time lecturing in a laptop classroom. They feel empowered and use a more constructive approach than teachers in non -laptop classrooms. As students are more engaged in learning, there are less classroom management problems. Teachers must create instructional environments in which students use higher order cognitive skills to construct meaning or knowledge, engage in disciplined enquiry, and work on products that have value beyond school. (Barrios, T 2004) What teaching approaches using laptops might work well for your learning area? Laptops provide students with fr equent and immediate access to the internet and educational software placing technology in an integral position in relation to student learning and teacher instruction. There is wide access to resources to support student learning and tools to plan and org anise learning. Students can communicate with their peers, teachers and the wider community and students can undertake collaborative tasks. This increased availability results in increased computer skills which potentially can transform the learning enviro nment and improve student learning outcomes. (Penuel, 2006) Our results indicate that the 1:1 students to networked laptop ratio contributes generally and significantly to the effectiveness of the learning environments per the design criteria of being more learner-, assessment-, community- and knowledge- centred. (Dunleavy, Dextert & Heinecket, 2007) Students dont have to wait for teachers to convey information as much of it is available on the internet, forcing a focus on the changing role of the teacher . There are opportunities for differentiated instruction and engaging learning but only if we think differently about our learning environments. (Owen, Farsail, Knezek & Christensen, 2005) Laptop programs provide opportunities to promote student autonomy e nabling students to work quickly and independently. Students can access and organise information as well as pursuing particular points of interest going into the topic in more depth. Students can work at their own pace and devise their own search strategies. The 1:1 laptop program can changed the practice of teachers changing the way they organise classroom activities. Teachers rely less on textbooks and many say they are better able to meet the needs of students that are struggling and those

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that are gifted. With the laptops teachers are able to spend more time individualising instruction for students. (Zucker & Hug, 2007) Laptops can be used to build stronger links between home and school, increasing communication and accountability with students and pare nts. Students are able to use their laptops as a tool to file and organise their school work independently at school and at home. This adds to the sense of home -school continuity. Now we have a feel for the potential of a one -to-0ne computing environment, lets look at what students actually do with laptops in the classroom.

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CHAPTER -2 INTRODUCTION TO TOPIC

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There are seminal studies on consumer purchase decision models in the literature, however, consumer purchase decisions vary greatly depending on the product to be purchased. Therefore, sectoral studies are needed to delineate the factors affecting consumer purchase decisions in various product markets. The International Data Corporation (IDC, 2006) report mentioned that in 2005 consumers continued to respond very positively to very attractive price points, but portable demand in the business space remained very strong too. According to What Laptop (2005), Dell was the number one choice in worldwide with 7.9 million sales. It was followed respectively by HP (7.4 million), Toshiba (5.8 million), IBM (4.3 million), and Acer (3.9 million) in year 2004. Furthermo re, revenue generated from notebooks has long surpassed desktops, thanks to higher average selling prices for notebooks. According to CRN (2006) in June 2005, notebook sales accounted for $216.1 million, or $1,442.66 per notebook whereas desktops accounted for $113.9 million, or $762.98 per unit. The average notebook price fell 11.8 percent from $1,635.07 in the year -ago month and in the same period, desktop prices fell 5 percent from $803.38 (CRN, 2006). In addition, new product launches to the market, acq uisitions and mergers in the sector, rapid developments in the nano -technology, integrated wireless networking, and decreased prices make it extremely vital for the companies to understand the factors underlying consumers laptop purchase decisions. The customer base of a company consists of three groups of consumers: stayers (those who had never switched from a previous brand), satisfied switchers (those who switched for reasons other than dissatisfaction), and dissatisfied switchers (those who s witched because they were dissatisfied from their previous brand) (Ganesh et al., 2000). Understanding the attitudes of these three different groups of customers plays an important role when implementing effective and feasible retention and loyalty strateg ies. Furthermore, it is also crucial to understand whether there are differences among these groups in terms of the factors affecting their future laptop purchases when they are upgrading their computers. The objectives of this study are two fold. Initia lly, it is aimed to determine the factors influencing consumers laptop purchases, and the findings of this first objective will provide the basis for the second research objective in the study. Secondly, it is intended to find out whether there are differ ences among consumer groups of a computer company with respect to the importance given to the factors influencing consumers laptop purchases. In the following part a brief and recent literature will be given about consumers purchase decisions. BACKGROUND The literature on purchase decision in this part has been limited to IT related purchase decisions due to the product category which will be examined in this current study. Consumers can prefer certain products, brands or companies over others, and to understand the reason behind these choices is exceptionally essential in order to market existing products more effectively than rivals. Consumers demographic profile, purchase perceptions, and their attitudes towards products or brands influence their pur chase decisions. Jarvenpaa and

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Tedd (1996/1997) identify many factors that affect a consumers electronic shopping purchase decision: product understanding, shopping experience, customer service, and consumer risk. Geisler and Hoang (1992) identify five steps in the decision process to purchase IT: 1. Establish or articulate the need for IT. 2. Establish or determine which unit(s) will receive the new or modified IT. 3. Select the technology. 4. Select the suppliers. 5. Authorize the purchase and sign the authorization to commit the necessary funds. The authors conclude that services companies follow a relatively logical and analyzable decision process. According to decision making model, consumers process the environmental cues; the physical factors of the product, psychosocial cues, such as advertising, and consumers put these cues into a set of perceptions that shape their preferences (Hong and Lerch, 2002). Based on these preferences, consumers make their choices subject to situational constraints, such a s price (Hong and Lerch, 2002). According to Hong and Lerch (2002), people evaluate various objective features when buying an IT product, and because of imperfect information and simplifications according to the decision rules people often abstract these various features into few perceptual dimensions such as usefulness and price. In another research conducted by Kim et al. (2002), small-office/home-office professional (SOHO) procurement choices are influenced by a number of salient dimensions (i.e. in come, performance, price, inter-purchase time, network externalities). Furthermore, surveys have repeatedly identified performance and price as two of the most important attributes in SOHOs' PC purchase decisions. In a more recent study, Dillon and Reif (2 004) examine factors influencing consumers e -commerce commodity purchases, and find that a history of e-commerce purchasing have a more positive attitude towards on-line buying.

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CHAPTER-3 Literature survey

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ABSTRACT The rapid developments in IT sector accompanied by increased competition and acquisitions and mergers in the market, lead both academicians and practitioners to concentrate on the consumers purchase decisions in portable PC industry.
1) The NDP groups repo rt published by PC World state that in May 2003, U.S. retailers made more money selling laptop/notebook computers than they did selling desktops. It was the first time that laptops have outsold desktops in the U.S. This research seeks to develop a better understanding of the factors influencing consumers laptop purchases. What makes this study distinctive from other sectoral studies is that, this research also seeks the differences among three consumer groups (stayers, satisfied switchers, and dissatisfie d switchers) of a company with respect to the factors influencing consumers laptop purchases. 2) It is found that core technical features, post purchase services, price and payment conditions, peripheral specifications, physical appearance, value added features, and connectivity and mobility are the seven factors that are influencing consumers laptop purchases. Furthermore, price and payment conditions factor shows significant difference among three consumer groups of a companys customer base.

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CHAPTER-4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

22

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

A). To analyze awareness of different brand. B). To analyze switching habit of consumer. C). To find the satisfaction level with different brands. D). To find different uses of laptops E). To map the profile of the students in terms of lifestyle, Attitude & perception. F). To evaluate the student preferences about laptops of differe nt Brands available in the market.

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CHAPTER-5 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

24

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

DATA COLLECTION Both primary and secondary data has been collected for meeting the objectives of the research.

PRIMARY DATA For the collection of primary data a structured questionnaire was prepared which was administered to the respondents.

SECONDARY DATA For the purpose of collection of secondary data the sources of information such as internet websites, magazines were used.

RESEARCH DESIGN Exploratory research design was used for the research.

RESEARCH INSTRUMENT Questionnaires were used as a research instrument for the research. .

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RESEARCH DESIGN Data source Research instrument Research approachSampling unitSample sizeSampling technique:The study is based on both primary and secondarydata. Questionnaire Survey, Observation Customers 100 customers non-probability sampling technique

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CHAPTER-6 ANALYSIS & FINDING OF STUDY

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DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS Demographic Profile of the Respondents Of the 327 respondents, approximately 22% were female whereas 78% were male; in fact this result reflected the general status of PC usage in Turkey because according to the Pew Global Attitudes Project (2005) only 39% of Turkish people used computer in 2005 and 46% of them were male and 33% were female. Additionally, almost 85% of all respondents were under the age of 35, this was also expected since 65% of the whole population was under the age 40 in Turkey. The age structure of the participant s of this survey was as follows: 31.5% of the consumers was between 18 -25 year old, 53.2% was between 26 -35, 11.6% was between 36-45, and finally 3.7% was 46 and above. The education level of the respondents was high as expected; 4.6% of the respondents we re high school graduates, 86% were university or school of applied disciplines graduates or students, and 8.6% had a MA or Ph.D. degree. Brand Usage Profile of the Respondents The participants were asked to choose the laptop brand that they were using at the time of the survey. Table 1 illustrated the frequency distribution of laptop brands by the respondents of the survey. In other words, the frequency of laptop brands used by the respondents can be summarized as follows: 23% Toshiba,18.3% HP, 15% Dell, 12.8% IBM, 8% Asus, 6.1% Fujitsu/Siemens, 3.7% Sony, 2.8% Acer, and 10.4% other brands. Table 1. Frequency Distribution of Laptop Brands
Frequ en cy Di stri bu ti on of Laptop B ra nds

Acer Asus Dell Fujit su/Siemens HP IBM So ny T osh iba Ot her T ot al

Frequ en cy Perce nt (%) 9 2.8 26 49 20 60 42 12 75 34 32 7 8.0 15 .0 6.1 18 .3 12 .8 3.7 22 .9 10 .4 10 0.0

The respondents of this study were also asked whether the current laptop brand that they were using was their first laptop brand or whether they had switched from a previous laptop brand. Furthermore, the participants who declared that they had switched from another brand, were asked to state the reason of why they had switched. The alternatives for switching included (a)

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overall dissatisfaction from the previous laptop brand, and (b) reasons other than dissatisfaction. Hence, the laptop users were classifi ed into three groups: (a) stayers (those who did not switch), (b) satisfied switchers (those who switched for reasons other than dissatisfaction), and (c) dissatisfied switchers (those who switched because they were dissatisfied from their previous mobile phone brand). Table 2 demonstrated that 62.4% of the respondents were stayers, while 25.7% of them were satisfied switchers and 11.9% of them were dissatisfied switchers. Table 2. Distribution of Respondents According to Three Consumer Groups
Th re e C usto mer Gro ups Frequ en cy Perce nt (%) 20 4 62 .4 84 39 32 7 25 .7 11 .9 10 0.0

S taye rs S ati sfi ed S wi tche rs

Di ssati sfi e d Swi tch ers To tal

The Fea tures Influencing Consumers Laptop Purchase Decisions Consumers, who participated to this survey, were given a list of features related with laptops and then they were asked to show how important these features for them while purchasing a laptop. Responde nts who found a feature very important gave 4 to that item while others who found it unimportant gave 1. Hence, as it was seen in Table 3, processor speed and type, memory and hard disk capacity, technical support, guarantee and warranty conditions , and display resolution quality became the top five features which had the following highest mean values respectively: 3.80, 3.66, 3.66, 3.62, 3.58. It was also noteworthy to mention that all the features listed in the survey were considered important by the respondents since the lowest mean value was 2.64 for the feature of wireless Internet. Factors Influencing Consumers Laptop Purchase Decisions After identifying the importance degree of the laptop features by the respondents, the authors tried to group them under some factors by employing Factor Analysis through SPSS 14.0. However, prior to factor analysis, the reliability analysis for the variables was conducted and it was found that Cronbachs alpha () was 0.896 for the 26 variables given in Tab le 3, a result which is well above the minimum acceptance level of 0.6 (Hair et al., 1998). Later, in order to find out whether our data fit factor analysis, we also utilized KMO and Bartletts test. Bartlett's test of sphericity indicates whether the correlation matrix is an identity matrix, which would indicate that the variables are unrelated. Table 4 presents the significance level of this test. Very small values (less than 0.05) indicate that there are probably significant relationships among the variables. A value higher than about .10 or so may indicate that the data are not suitable for factor analysis. Since the significance level of our data was 0.00, it can be concluded that the data of this study is suitable for factor analysis.

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Principal components method was used while conducting the factor analysis. As it can be seen in Table 5, 26 variables were grouped under seven factors. The results of the factor analysis show that 60% of the total variance is explained by classifying these 26 variables into 7 components. Varimax rotation has been used to see which variables load together. The first factor was composed of TV/Audio connection, Bluetooth, infrared technology, and wireless Internet features, and it had an eigenvalue of 2.98 and this factor h ad the power to explain 11.48% of the variance; so this factor was named as Connectivity & Mobility Feature. Spill resistant keyboard, ease of usage, durability of chassis, brand image, security solutions, and variety of accessories were the variables that constituted the second factor with an eigenvalue of 2.74 and 10.56% of explained variance. Hence, the second factor was called as Value Added Features. Prevalence of technical service network, maintenance and repair, guarantee and warranty conditions, and technical support were grouped under the third factor, which was named as Post Purchase Services, and this factor had an eigenvalue of 2.65 and 10.19% of explained variance. The fourth factor was made up of stand-by duration, modem/Ethernet, number of USB ports, speakers/amplifiers, and DVD/CD player features, hence this factor was named as Peripheral Specifications, and it has an eigenvalue of 2.20 and 8.48% of explained variance. On the other hand, Core Technical Features is the factor with an eigenvalue of 1.76 and 6.80% of explained variance, and this factor was composed of the following variables: processor speed and type, memory and hard disk capacity, and display resolution. In the sixth factor, Physical Appearance related features (weight and dimensions, and design and color) were grouped together, and this factor had the power to explain 6.80% of the variance and an eigenvalue of 1.76. Finally, the seventh factor, namely Price and Payment Conditions, was comprised of price, and payment conditions and campaigns. The eigenvalue and % of explained variance of this factor are respectively as follows: 1.54 and 5.92%. Table 3. Importance of Laptop Features in Consumers Purchase Decisions ITEMS Processor speed and type Memory and hard disk capacity Technical support Guarantee and warranty conditions Display resolution quality Maintenance and repair Price Prevalence of technical service network Ease of usage N 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 MEAN 3.80 3.66 3.66 3.62 3.58 3.57 3.53 3.51 3.46 STD. DEVIATION .413 .524 .522 .529 .519 .612 .615 .645 .624

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DVD-CD player Speakers/Amplifiers Weight and dimensions Stand-by duration Modem/Ethernet Durability of chassis Spill resistant keyboard Number of USB ports Payment conditions and campaigns Bluetooth Security solutions Design and color Brand image Infrared technology Variety of accessories TV/Audio connection Wireless Internet

327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327 327

3.44 3.39 3.38 3.37 3.35 3.28 3.25 3.22 3.21 3.11 3.11 3.07 2.99 2.93 2.89 2.65 2.64

.608 .742 .672 .684 .651 .695 .858 .680 .819 .829 .797 .752 .865 .900 .869 .938 .946

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Table 5. Factors Influencing Consumers Laptop Purchases Factors F1: Connectivity and Mobility Feature TV/Audio connection Bluetooth Infrared technology Wireless Internet F2: Value Added Features Spill resistant keyboard Ease of usage Durability of chassis Brand image Security solutions Variety of accessories F3: Post Purchase Services Prevalence of technical service network Maintenance and repair Guarantee and warranty conditions Technical support F4: Peripheral Specifications Stand-by duration Modem/Ethernet Number of USB ports Speakers/Amplifiers DVD-CD player F5: Core Technical Features Processor speed and type Memory and hard disk Display resolution F6: Physical Appearance Weight and dimensions Design and color F7: Price and Payment Conditions Price Payment conditions and campaigns Eigenvalue 2.985 % of Variance 11.482 Cumulative % 11.482

2.747

10.565

22.047

2.650

10.192

32.240

2.207

8.487

40.727

1.769

6.803

47.530

1.572

6.246

53.776

1.540

5.923

59.699

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Differences among Three Consumer Groups Regarding the Factors Influencing Laptop Purchases After determining the factors influencing laptop purchase decisions of consumers, we try to find out whether there are differences among stayers, satisfied switchers, and dissatisfied switchers regarding these factors. Therefore, one-way ANOVA analysis was conducted, and it was found that only price and payment conditions factor shows a significant difference among three groups with an F value of 4.89 and a significance value of 0.008. Table 6 illustrates that these three groups of consumers did not show significant differences from each other, except the price & payment conditions, with respect to the factors that are influencing their laptop purchase decisions at the significance level of 0.05. The mean importance scores for three groups of consumers with respect to factors influencing laptop purchase decisions are presented in Table 7. According to this table, dissatisfied switchers gave less importance to price and payment conditions when com pared to stayers and satisfied switchers. Furthermore, stayers found price and payment conditions factor more important than satisfied switchers. In addition, it has to be noted that connectivity & mobility feature has the lowest mean score across all groups of consumers. On the other hand, core technical features has the highest mean score for all consumer groups (stayers: 3.68, satisfied switchers: 3.66, and dissatisfied switchers: 3.69) which means that stayers, satisfied switchers, and dissatisfied switchers gave the highest importance to this factor among all factors, and the three consumer groups did not show any difference with respect to core technical features. On the other hand, the second most important factor was found to be post purchase services for all three groups of consumers.

Table 6. Differences Among Three Consumer Groups Regarding to Purchase Decision Factors

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Table 7. Differences in Three Consumer Groups About Importance of Laptop Purchase Decision Factors
C u stome r Grou ps S taye rs C on n ecti vi ty & Mobi l i ty Val u e Adde d Fe atures Post Pu rch ase S ervi ces Peri ph eral Spe ci fi cati on s C ore Techn i cal Fe atures Phy si cal Appe ara nce Me an 2.79 78 3.20 26 3.59 93 3.35 98 3.68 46 3.23 28 N 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 20 4 S ati sfi ed S wi tch ers Me an 2.84 82 3.06 94 3.56 85 3.31 67 3.66 27 3.19 05 3.31 55 N 84 84 84 84 84 84 84 Di ssati sfi e d S wi tch ers Me an 2.95 51 3.15 81 3.58 33 3.40 00 3.69 23 3.28 21 3.14 10 N 39 39 39 39 39 39 39 To tal Me an 2.82 95 3.16 31 3.58 94 3.35 35 3.67 99 3.22 78 3.37 16 N 32 7 32 7 32 7 32 7 32 7 32 7 32 7

Pri ce & Pa yme nt C on di ti on s3.43 87

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QUESTIONNAIRE

Exploratory Research Questionnaire

Name: Age: Annual Income: 1. Do you own a laptop? If YES which brand is it?

2. What are the various brands of laptops that you are aware of?

3. What are the various attributes that you look at while purchasing a laptop?

4. What is the purpose of you purchasing a laptop?

5. What are the various features that you would like to have in your laptop?

6. How much would you spend on purchasing the laptop of your choice?

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Primary Questionnaire
1. Name : ______________________________________________ 2. Gender : a. Male b. Female 3. Indicate the age group you fall into a. < 20 years b. 20-22 years c. 22-25 years d. > 25 years 4. Indicate your educational qualification a. BE/BTech b. MBBS/BDS c. B.Com d. BSc e. BA f. Other (specify): ______________ 5. Indicate your work experience a. 0-1 years b. 1-2 years c. 2-4 years d. > 4 years 6. Which brand of laptop are you currently using a. Dell b. Lenovo c. HP d. Toshiba e. Apple

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f. Acer g. Vaio h. Other ________ 7. Indicate your agreement to the below statements on a 7 point Likert scale where 1- Strongly Agree 2- Moderately Agree 3- Mildly Agree 4- Neither agree nor disagree 5- Mildly Disagree 6- Moderately Disagree 7- Strongly Disagree

I want a laptop which attracts attention of colleagues I dont mind buying products based on recent (not -proven, yet) technologies. I feel utility matters and not the looks of any product. I feel family plays an important role in my purchasing decision. I prefer a foreign made product to Indian made products. I use email as a major source of communication. I use laptop for entertainment more than for any other purpose. Owning a computer in today's world is very important. I think borrowing money even during times of need is not a good idea. I feel everyone should enjoy the present without worrying too much about the future. I am a very fashion conscious person. I feel good quality means more price I prefer branded products

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6

7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7

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8. Indicate your preferences for laptop based on the following attributes.

I bought my laptop because it had a great display. Bigger memory in a laptop is a must. My laptop works on the best available processor. I use my laptop to make a style statement.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

9. Rank your current laptop on the following attributes Rank on the scale of 1 to 5. Rank 1 if you find your laptop very bad on the attribute and 5 if you find your laptop very good on the attribute and so on.

Brand Image

Features Configuration

Style

Audio/Video Quality

Price

Convenience of service

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11. Place the brands in the cells below in terms of their performance in the given attributes

VERY GOOD
BRAND IMAGE FEATURES CONFIGURATION STYLE AUDIO/VIDEO QUALITY PRICE CONVENIENCE OF SERVICE

VERY BAD

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Respondent Profile
Primary research was conducted in online as well as personal interview form. The questionnaire was created using Google forms and distributed to respondents in the GNA-IMT, PHAGW ARA campus. The main purpose behind doing this was to get data from respondent which varied demographically and geographically. A total of 104 respondents filled in the questionnaire.

The respondents profile can be seen in the following graphs:

Sex Ratio among respondents

Sales

1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

>4 years

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CHAPTERBibliography

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References:
Market Research-Text and Cases- Rajendra Nargundkar. Marketing Research-Measurement and Methods- Tull and Hawkins. www.dell.co.in www.hplaptopsindia.com www.sonyviaolaptopsindia.com https://www.toshiba-india.com www.lenovo.com/in/en www.acer.co.in www.apple.com

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