EXPLORING THE INFLUENCE OF ADVERTISING ON CONSUMER BRAND PREFERENCES

TOWARDS MOBILE PHONE: NORTHERN REGION OF MALAYSIA

1 2
Bibi Noraini Bt Mohd Yusuf, Shazwani Bt Shafri
1,2
School of Business Innovation and Technopreneurship
Universiti Malaysia Perlis
1 2
bibinoraini@unimap.edu.my, shazwanishafri@yahoo.com

Abstract
The more advance in technology of the mobile phones, the higher the rank the user is seen in
the eyes of other people. Many people in this world believe that their mobile phones seem to
be a fashion statement. It says something about the owner, much like owner clothing. Even
though mobile technology often simplifies the complexion of everyday tasks, cell phone
owners can also encounter some problems and unwanted interruptions in using their phones.
Sometimes, consumers do not know why they made the decision in purchasing that particular
brand of phone. Perhaps the following factors as proposed by the researcher, which are
brand loyalty, price, quality, social influence or the mobile phone features might be the
reasons that influence the consumer when deciding to purchase mobile phones. The
researcher has selected quantitative research as suitable to obtain the desired results, as this
approach was deemed as the most suitable and appropriate to test the hyphotheses. For this
research, the researcher chosed the simple random sampling, where the respondents were
potential consumers located in the vicinity of Kangar, Perlis. The number of respondents
targeted to answer the questionnaires were 100. Based on the analysis conducted earlier and
after the results were tabulated, brand loyalty, quality and social influence are lead to
consumer purchasing mobile phones. Price and mobile phone features have negative
relationship with consumer purchasing mobile phones.

Keywords : brand loyalty, quality, social influence, price, mobile phone features and consumer
purchasing mobile phones.

INTRODUCTION advance in technology of the mobile phones, the

Nowadays, mobile phones have become very
important to people all over the world. In other
words, mobile phones have today become a
necessity in life and are treated as a vital
instrument carried by individuals, allowing them to
be kept informed and connected with the rest of
the world. It is an opportunity to stay in touch with
friends and family members, where having access
to emails and business associates, are just a few of
reasons for increased in importance of mobile
phones. The belief is that mobile phone has a
manifest destiny to subsume everything else.
According to Bridges, Rempel and Griggs (2010),
the worldwide penetration rates for mobile phones
usage have gone up from five (5) percent ten years
ago, to an estimated 61 percent in 2008. The more
higher the rank the user is seen in the eyes of
other people. Many people in this world believe
that their mobile phones seem to be a fashion
statement. It says something about the owner,
much like owner clothing. Nowdays, mobile
phones are quite affordable and easy to use. There
is an increase in the number of mobile phone
providers with companies designing and
developing their very own platforms and operating
systems. Some famous modern platforms available
in market today include BlackBerry, iPhone,
Samsung and Android for mobile applications
development.
Meanwhile, advertisement are considered the
lifeline of any company that wants to market their
product. It persuades customers to buy their

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 product, enabling the company to increase sales
and profit. Everyone can use advertisement but
they must respect the laws and the fixed
regulations. There are many types of
advertisement that can be applied by a company
to influence consumer’s attitude to buy the
product. Advertising is heavily used in this process
of personality creation and this follows logically
from the fact that personalities are particularly
useful for the creation of brand associations
(Rajagopal, 2006). Usually electronic media, such
as television (TV), is the most influential type of
advertisement because most people watch TV.
Furthermore, TV has the ability to convey the
company’s messages with sight, sound and motion
Frequency Family Friends
(n=118) (n=118)
Daily 15.3 19.5
Occasionally 65.3 60.2
Never 19.5 20.3
Total 100 100
Figure 1: How often the following people use their mobile phones?
Source: Araba Sey, 2009, Exploring mobile phone-sharing practices in Ghana, Emerald Group Publishing
Limited, ISSN 1463-6697 VOL. 11 NO. 2 2009, pp. 66-78.
There are two theories that can be associated with
the above mentioned topic. The first theory dwelve
with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory was
developed by Abraham Maslow (1943),
emphasizing the psychological and interpersonal
needs and also of economic necessities of a human
being. An individual has a hierarchy of motivational
needs (Cao, Jiang, Oh, Li, Liao and Chen 2012;
Maslow, 1954), involving five categories. In the
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are at least five
(5) sets of goals which will be referred to as the
basic needs (Tikkanen, 2011). The basic needs
comprise physiological, safety, love, esteem, and
self-actualization (Tikkanen, 2011). He had focused
more attention on specifying individual’s internal
needs. The order for reading the hierarchy is from
bottom to the top. Psychologists recognize that
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and is more accurate to influence consumers
because the company can easily reach its target
markets. Research has revealed that consumers,
when asked about a product they are familiar with
and having direct experience of, can predict their
choices quite well (Requelme, 2001). Apart from
that, mobile phones industry have expanded from
time to time because of wireless service providers
offering excellent packages and promotions for cell
phone users. Overall, both rural and urban
subscribers shared their phones occasionally rather
than frequently and mostly with friends, however,
rural subscribers shared on a more regular basis
with family members, friends and neighbours (Sey,
2009).
Neighbours Working Colleagues
(n=118) (n=118)
3.4 11.0
28.0 39.0
68.6 50.0
100 100
needs have a certain priority. As more of the basic
needs are satisfied, a person then seeks to move to
higher level of needs. If their basic needs are not
met, they would claim priority and efforts to satisfy
the higher needs must be postponed. Maslow
believes that the highest level of needs is the self-
actualization needs, which refer to people’s
aspirations to achieve self-fulfilment and realize
their potential (Cao, Jiang, Oh, Li, Liao and Chen
2012). The levels of priority needs established by
Maslow are given below:
a. Basic physiological
b. Safety from external danger
c. Love, affection and social activity
d. Esteem and self-respect
e. Self-actualization and accomplishment.
 Self -
Actualization
Self - Esteem
Love (Social)
Safety & Security
Physiological
2: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
The desire and reason to use the mobile phones
can be categorized as a need, which could fit into
any category in the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
based on the definitions of each category. For
example, in the physiological category, people may
order food using mobile phones while in safety and
security situations, mobile phones can be used to
call an important or emergency contact. In the
social category, mobile phones can be used in all
social and daily communications. Swann, (2012)
stated that people borne later in the 20th century
are more likely to use telephones for more social
reasons. If one loses the ability to use the
telephone, due to physical handicap conditions,
such as hearing loss, it could negatively impact the
individual’s perception of the overall quality of life.
Besides that, mobile phone helps in maintaining
relationships with people.
Cell phones are tools which individuals use to fulfill
their belonging needs. In the esteem stage
category, mobile phone is purchased not to fulfill
the needs, rather is purchased to fulfill the wants
of the individual. It is like purchasing as a status
symbol. The more advance the technology is, the
more powerful the individuals would be. In the
self-actualization category, needs are not directly
related to using telephones, because telephones
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Figure
do not make people feel as though they are better
people, a characteristic that defines self-
actualization (Swann, 2012). Second theory that is
related to this study is the theory of purchasing. In
purchasing, there will be two people involved, a
Seller, who sells the product and services and also
a Buyer that buys the product or services. One of
the very few studies of purchasing behaviour in
this dominant business sector concluded that
many managers in Small Medium Enterprises
(SMEs) do not regard purchasing as a key task and
some do not even perceive purchasing as a distinct
activity (Ramsay 2008; Ellegard, 2006). The
transaction of money from Buyer to Seller is also
understood to be as a purchasing.
In the perspective of marketing, consumer’s
purchasing processes can be categorized into five
(5) problem solving steps. The solving processes
are, the first being need, second is information
gathering, third is evaluating the given alternatives,
forth is the purchase activity and lastly the post
purchase status. These processes of decision
making is most suitable for a purchase decision
that requires problem solving behavior or complex
decision making process (Saif, Razzaq, Amad and
Gul, 2012; Dorsch, Grove and Darden, 2000).
Purchase of goods and services performed by the
user of an offer made by the seller is a process
involving decision-making stages (Panatik, Shah
and Rajab (2004); Gordon (1994). According to
Yang (2010), by providing personal shopping
assistance through availabilities of the mobile
phones, mobile shopping services can transform
traditional consumer shopping experiences in brick
and mortar stores to the following optimized
shopping experiences across channels:
a. Creating a real-time interaction between a
retailer and a consumer;
b. Assisting a consumer in making smart
purchasing decisions by providing customized
product/service information; and;
c. Delivering non-intrusive mobile marketing to
consumer that is based on consumer
preferences and priorities.
The consumer buying decision process is a
systematic way of looking at how a consumer
makes the decision to purchase a product (mobile
phone) in a product category. The purchase of the
same product does not always elicit the same
buying behaviour.
Research Problems
Even though mobile technology often simplifies
the complexion of everyday tasks, cell phone
owners can also encounter some problems and
unwanted interruptions in using their phones.
Sometimes, consumers do not know why they
made the decision in purchasing that particular
brand of phone. Factors influencing them to
purchase a mobile phone seem to be vague.
According to Requelme, (2001); Newelland Simon,
(1972), most marketers assume that customers
know what they want. Unfortunately, customers
may not know as much as the customers think they
do. Decision makers are not perfectly rational, but
they are ``rationally bounded''. Others problem
that have been identified by the researcher are
weaknesses of other brand of mobile phones. This
problem leads the consumers to purchase one
particular brand of mobile phone. They will
encounter problem in the decision making process.
Trust is very important and according to Ballester
and Alleman, (2005), when considering brand trust,
it is based on the consumer’s belief that the brand
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has specific qualities that makes it consistent,
competent, honest, responsible and so on, which
helps in making a decision of purchasing mobile
phones. Perhaps the following factors as proposed
by the researcher, which are brand loyalty, price,
quality, social influence or the mobile phone
features might be the reasons that influence the
consumer when deciding to purchase mobile
phones.
Research Objectives
Basically, research objectives state what
researchers expect to achieve from the study in
general terms. It is directly related to the relative
values and the usefulness of the output at the end
of the study. The three (3)-fold objectives of this
particular research are:
a) To determine factors influencing
consumer’s purchasing of mobile phones
b) To investigate why consumers choose to
purchase certain mobile phones
c) To identify how consumers are influenced
to purchase mobile phones
Research Questions
Research questions are clear, focus, brief but detail
feedbacks which the researcher develops for his
respondents. Each respondent must answer all the
research questions provided, so that at the end of
the exercise, the researcher will get valid and
valuable feedbacks for analysis. Typical questions
would include :-
a) Does brand loyalty affect consumer’s
purchasing of mobile phone?
b) Does price affect consumer’s purchasing
of mobile phone?
c) Does quality affect consumer’s purchasing
of mobile phone?
d) Does social influence affect consumer’s
purchasing of mobile phone?
e) Does mobile phone features affect
consumer’s purchasing of mobile phone?
Scope of the study
The research was conducted in the northern region
of Malaysia, covering Kangar, the state of Perlis,
Malaysia. The researcher chosed the area because
of its location being the main city of Perlis, having
several offices and workplaces. The respondents
selected were potential customers using mobile
phones, especially working people. These group
could afford to buy the mobile phones for varied
kinds and purposes. This could also led to the
accuracy of data obtained and results for this
research. In this research, the researcher had
focused on five main independent variables as
factors that could influence consumer’s purchasing
of mobile phones. Those variables were Brand
Loyalty, Price, Quality, Social Influence and Mobile
Phone Features.
Significance of the study
It is important to undertake this study, thereby
enabling a wider knowledge about the consumer
brands preference and to investigate why they
prefer to own certain brand of mobile phones over
the other. In addition, what factors could trigger
the consumer to buy the particular brand of mobile
phones. The usefulness of this study would be
valuable for a mobile phone companies in the
areas of marketing. Upon full completion of this
research, with the results obtained and analysed,
we would know how to help the mobile phone
companies to improve their ability in marketing or
financing, to more focus more on the preference of
the consumers. Consumer’s expectation nowadays
are demanding since technologies are increasingly
advancing and the shifting of the environment are
different (more on the positive note and beneficial
to the consumer) every year. Factors influencing
mobile phone purchase among consumers can also
influence their eventual choice of a particular
brand product.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A consumer can be defined as an individual or a
group of people that purchases, a product and
service, for personal use and not for manufacturing
or resale. This is because consumer is for the end
user. The consumer can also make a decision
whether to purchase or not to purchase the item
being sold. It can be sold at the store or virtually
and also the consumer is a person who can be
influenced by marketing, advertisement and by
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many more. As such, the consumer plays a vital
role in the economic system of a nation. In the
absence of an effective consumer demand,
producers would lack one of the key motivations to
produce, which is to sell to the consumer.
According to Panatik, Shah, Rajab, (2004);
Schiffman and Kanuk, (1999), the term consumer is
often used to distinguish the difference between
individuals and that of organizations. Individual
consumers are individuals who purchase goods
and services for their own use, households, a
member of the household or as a gift to their
friends. This differentiates with the consumer
organizations, referring to private sector dealers,
government agencies and institutions, in purchase
of goods, equipment and services, respectively, in
order to meet the needs of their organization,
either for the purpose of profit or otherwise.
Consumer Purchasing Behavior
Several models have been developed with a view
to provide clarity on the consumer’s purchasing
behaviors. Although these may vary in form of
presentation, most of them are composed of three
main stages, such as pre-purchase, purchase and
post-purchase (Kwok, 2007; Hoyer and Maclnnis,
2001; Rayport and Jaworski, 2003). It is well
established in the marketing and consumer
behavior literatures that the consumer’s decision
making process in purchasing is the most
important part for studying consumers’ behavior.
The consumers’ buying behavior has always been a
popular marketing topic and issue, widely studied
many years back while no recently published
marketing textbook is considered complete
without a chapter devoted to consumers’ behavior.
The main approach, in explaining the fundamentals
of consumer behavior, describes the consumer’s
purchasing process. According to most researchers,
the purchasing process by online consumers is
affected by various factors such as demographic,
social, economic, cultural, psychological and other
personal factors that are beyond the control and
influence of retailers; and marketing stimuli and
web experience that can be controlled by
marketers (Kwok, 2007; Constantinides, 2004;
Kotler, 2003; Jobber, 2001; Boyd et al., 2002).
 The Theory of Consumer
There is one consumer theory that can define a
consumer in oneself, which is the self-concept
theory. The self-concept theory is a person who is
a multifaceted picture of himself or herself. It plays
an important role in the consumer behavior
pattern. For instance, if a young woman views
herself as a bright, ambitious and headed for a
successful marketing career, she’ll want to buy
attractive clothing and jewelry to reflect that
image for her. If a middle-aged man views himself
as young for his age, he may purchase a sports car
or stylish clothing to reflect his self-concept (Boone
and Kurtz, 2010). This self-concept theory can
affect buying behaviors, being two factors, which
are personal and interpersonal. Both factors can be
related to a person’s needs, motivations,
perceptions, attitudes and learning. A person’s
self-concept has four components, firstly being
real, which is an objective view of the total person.
Secondly, is the self-image, where the way
individuals view him/herself may distort the
objective view. Thirdly is looking glass self, which is
the way individual thinks others see him or her
may also differ substantially from self-image
because people often choose to project different
images to others than perception of their real
selves. Lastly is ideal self, which serves as a
personal set of objectives, because it is the image
to which the individual aspires to be. Usually,
consumer will choose to purchase the products
that move them closer to the ideal self-stage.
Factors Influencing Mobile Phones Purchase
among Consumers
There are several factors that can influence
consumer’s purchasing of mobile phone, these
being Brand Loyalty, Price, Quality, Social Influence
and Mobile Phone Features.
Brand Loyalty
The first factor that influences consumers to
purchase mobile phones is brand loyalty. As we
can see nowadays, brands can really influence
consumer as it exist in the familiarity of the
consumer’s knowledge about certain product, in
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this case, is the brand loyalty towards mobile
phones. As we know, loyalty can be defined as a
repeat purchase that consumer only aims for one
kind of brand to purchase. Sometimes, due to the
customer’s loyalty for one particular brand, he
would recommend similar brand that they
purchased to others. They are also willing to pay
for the higher price. For example, one family would
usually purchase only ‘Sony’ brand name in all of
their electrical and electronic appliances since that
family had been purchasing that brand for about
10 years. They had already put their trust in that
brand and will continue to buy the same brand in
future. It is called a brand loyalty. According to
Tepeci, (1999); Assael, (1991), once customers
have made a decision about a brand and its
associations, they are often loyal to that brand, will
continue to buy it in the future, will recommend it
to their friends or choose the product over others,
despite those having better features or lower
prices. Brands are natural barriers to new
competitors because branding reduces consumer’s
risks associated with the purchase of products or
services. Thus, they support premium prices and
sustain increasing revenue because of the
consumer’s tendency towards long-term brand
loyalty. In the twentieth century, the growing
symptom was on purchasing a brand. Now, most of
the ads in consumer products are designed to
enhance a product name. Therefore, the
awareness of a brand of goods can influence the
selection of consumer goods. According to the
study conducted by Lin, (2010); Day (1996); Oliver
(1999), brand loyalty was classified into four parts:
cognitive loyalty, affective loyalty, conation loyalty
and action loyalty. They also added two indicators,
these being action and affection for brand loyalty
and furthermore divided brand loyalty into true
brand loyalty and spurious brand loyalty.
The spurious brand loyalty consumers may make
repeated purchases only because the brand they
purchase is the only available choice in the stores.
On the other hand, true brand loyalty consumers
would show both psychological and affective
commitments in addition to repurchase
consistency. Brand loyalty is one of the core
components of brand equity and also positively
and directly affecting brand quality. Under the
influence of brand loyalty, consumers continue to
buy the brand, regardless of the superior features,
prices and convenience offered by its competitors.
The more loyal the consumers are towards the
brand, the less vulnerable the customers base
would be. Based on the practice that repeat buying
is one of the indicators for brand loyalty, however,
challenges that such measure may not be totally
accurate. This is due to the fact that some
consumers make habitual purchase towards a
particular brand just because of its prominence in
stock and effective promotions (Kwok, 2007;
Atilgan et al., 2005; Keller, 1998; Aaker, 1991). The
consumer behavior model by Panatik, Shah, Rajab
(2004); Engel et al. al., (1978) put specific brand
factor in the evaluation of the brand. This shows
the importance of the brand as a factor involved,
largely attributed by the selection process of
beliefs and attitudes of consumers. In the study,
brand awareness refers to the consumer’s
concerned with the brand name chosen.
Information about the mobile phones can
influence consumers so does information from
advertisements, TV and newspapers, family or
friends. Obviously it is by any form of explanation
audio, visual, or oral.
Price
Price is usually the first factor that the consumer
would consider before purchasing mobile phones.
This is because the consumer would evaluate his
affordability to buy. Price also indicates the level of
the consumer’s income. The higher the income,
the higher is the purchasing value that the
consumer can make. It can also be defined as an
amount of money required that we need to pay if
we buy some goods or after having some services.
It also as the consideration given in exchange for
transfer of ownership, where price forms the
essential basis of commercial transactions. It may
be fixed by a contract or discovered or negotiated
during the course of dealings between the parties
involved. Some consumers also associate high
price with quality product, while low price is for
low quality product. According to Swani and Yoo,
(2010); Bolton, (1989); Foket al., (2006), in
consumer’s heuristics, a high (low) price connotes
a high (low) quality and image. High-priced brands
are brands on the market whose image are seen as
the key factor before a purchase. Consumers of
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these brands often purchase them mainly for
image and are willing to pay a premium price for
their perceived high quality and status, which
make them price-inelastic. Low-priced brands tend
to be purchased for utilitarian value, with the
consumer relying on the perceived value for price.
Consumers would typically look for low prices of
these brands or substitutes to get the best value.
Low-image brands tend to be more price elastic, as
the driving factor for their purchase is seen in value
by consumers. According to other researchers,
price is probably the most important consideration
for the average consumer. Consumers with high
brand loyalty are willing to pay a premium for their
favored brand, so, their purchase intention is not
easily affected by price (Yee and Sidek, 2008;
Cadogan and Foster, 2000). In addition, customers
have a strong belief in the price and value of their
favorite brands so much so that they would
compare and evaluate prices with alternative
brands (Evans et al., 1996; Keller, 2003).
Consumers’ satisfaction can also be built by
comparing price with perceived costs and values. If
the perceived values of the product are greater
than cost, it is observed that consumers will
purchase that product (Yee and Sidek, 2008). Loyal
customers are willing to pay a premium even if the
price has increased because the perceived risk is
very high and they prefer to pay a higher price to
avoid the risk of any change. Basically, long-term
relationships of service loyalty make loyal
customers more prices tolerant, since loyalty
discourages customers from making price
comparison with other products by shopping
around. Price has increasingly become a focal point
in consumers’ judgment of offer value as well as
their overall assessment of the retailer (Yee and
Sidek, 2008; DeRuyter et al., 1999). According to
Bucklin et al. (1998), price significantly influences
consumer’s choice and incidence of purchase. He
emphasized that discount pricing makes
households switch brands and buy products earlier
than needed. Price is described as the quantity of
payment or compensation for something. It
indicates a value as an exchange ratio between
goods that pay for each other. Price also
communicates to the market the company’s
intended value positioning of its product or brand.
Price consciousness is defined as finding the best
value, buying at sale prices or the lowest price
choice. Additionally, consumers generally
evaluated market price against an internal
reference price, before they decide on the
attractiveness of the retail price.
Quality
Quality is something deemed as very abstract,
where everybody has their own perception and
idea about the quality of the products. Sometimes
quality can play a main role for the consumer to
make a decision before purchasing a product. They
believe that quality can help them to decide
whether to buy or not to buy the product.
Consumers also believe that quality has a link to
the price. The higher the price, the higher is the
quality of the product. In manufacturing, it is
defined as a measure of excellence or of being free
from defects and deficiencies. It is brought about
by strict and consistent commitment to certain
standards that achieve excellences of a product in
order to satisfy specific customer or user
requirements. As an example, if an automobile
company finds a defect in one of their cars and
makes a product recall, customer’s reliability and
ultimately future production volume will decrease
because trust will be lost in the car's quality.
According to Mosadeghrad (2013), quality has
caused company managers throughout the world
to consider quality as a strategic goal to achieve
competitive advantage. If product or service
quality improves, costs decrease, productivity
increases and a better products or services are
available for clients, which in turn enhance
organizational performance and provide long-term
working relationships for employees and suppliers.
According to Kwok (2007); Yasin (2007); Aaker
(1991); Keller (1998), Shermen (1992), customer
has their perception of the overall quality or
superiority of a product or service. Since
perception is intangible, the overall feelings
towards a brand is subjective in nature and hence
the knowledge of actual detailed product
specifications could have little correlation with the
perceived quality. Perceived quality of a brand
could help generate values by providing a pivotal
reason-to-buy, differentiating the position of a
brand, charging premium price, motivating channel
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members to perform well and also introducing
extensions into new brand categories. In addition,
it is found that perceived quality is of utmost
importance in determining the brand loyalty as
well as repeat purchase Nevertheless, it is
becoming more difficult to obtain an acceptable
satisfactory level of perceived quality owing to the
fact that fast and continuous product advancement
have already strengthened consumers’
expectations on product quality. According to
Lazarova (2010); Steenkamp (1989), there are four
major approaches to explaining the concept of
quality, these being : (1) the metaphysical
approach of philosophy, (2) the production
management approach, (3) the economic
approach, and (4) the behavioral or perceived
quality approach of marketing and consumer
behavior. The first approach focuses on quality.
The production management approach looks into
standardized manufacturing procedures, quality
control and quality costs. The economic approach
examines the quality from an economic’s point of
view, such as quality competition, market
equilibrium within a situation of product quality,
variations and consumer behavior towards
products with objective quality and variations,
both when the consumer is perfectly informed or
with incomplete knowledge. (Lazarova, 2010)
Social Influence
Social influence could give the big impact to the
consumer in making a decision to purchase mobile
phones. This is because people always
communicate to other people in their daily life.
These people can be categorized as family, friends,
relatives, colleagues and so on. These people
would suggest and they sometime act as a
promoter as they are indirectly promoting about
the products to the potential consumers. For
family groups, it is perhaps the most important
thing in the consumer behavior because in the
family, there have close relationships and long-
term interactions among the family members.
When a person or group uses any types of social
power to change the attitudes or behavior of
others in a particular direction, they are using the
social influence. According to Wang, et al. (2006),
social influence generally refers to processes
whereby an individual’s beliefs, opinions, attitudes,
values and behaviors are affected by other(s)
through social interactions. Social influence occurs
when one group member expresses an evaluation
regarding a focal issue, where it is perceived by a
second group member, which in turn influences
the second group member’s evaluation of the focal
issue. Group members are often influenced by
other group members’ evaluations of important
issues and subsequently edit or even refrain from
offering their own unique perspectives, opinions
and information once they become aware of other
group members’ evaluations.
For example, a persuasive argument might be even
more effective if our friend is an expert on the
product knowledge as opposed to just having little
knowledge about the product. If our friend is able
to change our attitude in the direction of the
argument, they have used a type of social
influence. Psychologically, we can easily accept and
agree with the suggestion and attitude of our
friends and relatives. Therefore the chances to
indirectly promote the products to the family
members are high and it can actually help the
consumer to make a decision whether to buy or
not to buy the product. The researcher also thinks
that in the family, he or she has already made a
decision on the ‘must-buy-product-brand’ in the
house. For example the toothpaste, in any events
or circumstances of need, if the family is used to
buying a Colgate brand, then they will continue to
but only Colgate brand. This more or less helps the
consumer to purchase the product. Yang, He and
Lee, 2007; Hawkins et al., 1998; Bourne, 1957;
Hyman, 1942, said that research on the social and
interpersonal influences can be traced back to
those who first elaborated the term ‘reference
group’ when they asked respondents with which
individuals or groups to compare themselves. The
term has been redefined thereafter with additional
researches and now with a broader definition – the
reference group refers to the groups used by an
individual to direct one’s purchasing behavior in a
particular situation. More specifically, the
reference groups in this research consist of not
only the groups that an individual has a frequent
contact with (such as family members, working
associates, friends, classmates and etc.) but also
include the groups that an individual does not have
a relationship with, direct or indirect contact, such
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as certain expected groups or people in a certain
social level. Others had also studied the group
influence in marketing and behavioral research and
concluded that the concept of the reference group
has a pervasive influence on marketing studies.
Besides family, friends and relatives, there are also
some other social influences that can be
categorized to some inner thoughts that can
influence the consumer to purchase a product.
These include feelings and attitude that can affect
the purchasing decision. Social influence is distinct
from conformity, power and authority. Conformity
occurs when an individual expresses a particular
opinion or behavior in order to fit in to a given
situation or to meet the expectations of a given
thought, although he does not necessarily hold
that opinion or nor does he believes that the
behavior is appropriate.
Power is the ability to force or coerce someone to
behave in a particular way by controlling the
outcome. Authority is power that is believed to be
legitimate (rather than coercive) by those who are
subjected to it. Other than the researches above,
other researches also stated that social influence
have other types of consumer of reference group
which can be divided into occupation, interest and
many more. The concept of reference groups have
been used thereafter as a basis for a variety of
applications in several different fields. For
example, it has been argued that the reference
group concept should be applied in behavior
studies of specific groups, such as farmers,
scientists, alcoholics, mentally ill patients and of
course, different segments of consumers. In some
follow-up research, the reference group theory
was applied to a wider social groups including
physicians, auto owners, cosmetic users, religious
charges and alcohol use, students and housewives.
In the business practice, marketers have applied
these concepts widely by portraying products
being consumed in social situations and inviting
prominent/attractive spokespersons to endorse
their products (Yang, He and Lee, 2007; Chao and
Schor, 1998; Beeghley et al., 1990; Bearden and
Etzel, 1982; Park and Lessig, 1977; Grubb and
Stern, 1971; Hyman and Singer, 1968; Coleman et
al., 1966).
 Mobile Phone Features
Nowadays, we can easily find mobile phones with
much variety of features as a result of
technological enhancement. It can help to attract
the consumer, especially gadget lovers, who
always seek and are eager to try the new
advancement of technologies in the market. In this
key term, we can divide it into two meanings, the
first one is mobile phone. Mobile phone is a
portable telephone device that does not require
the use of landlines. Mobile phones utilize
frequencies transmitted by cellular towers to
connect the calls between two devices. Mobile
phones may also be referred to as cellular phones,
handphones or handsets. The second term is
features, which means providing benefits to
customers. According to Salmi and
Sharafutdinova, (2008), freedom of movement and
immediate accessibility have been found to be
important benefits specific to mobile
communications and in some studies have been
recognized as decisive in the choice of this
technology. Using mobile communications, a
person may be accessible, regardless of physical
locations. Accessibility, in turn, allows users of
mobile phones to be more mobile, even when they
need to be reachable at any time. Feature is
defined as a unique characteristic of a good or
service that sets it apart from similar items.
Customers however, want a benefit and do not
care much about the features which are touted by
every supplier as unique or superior. Examples of
features of mobile phone are the camera,
Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, games, video call and many
more. The mobile phone company’s marketing
usually uses these features as competitive
advantages to compete with other mobile phone
companies. According to Mokhlis and Yaakop
(2011); Yun, Han, Hong and Kim (2003), they had
investigated the look-and-feel of fifty (50) different
mobile phones using a consumer survey. Seventy-
eight (78) participants evaluated the design of
phones on the perceived scale of
image/impression characteristics, including
luxuriousness, simplicity, attractiveness,
colorfulness, texture, delicacy, harmoniousness,
salience, rigidity and finally overall satisfaction. It
was found that the image and impression
characteristics of the products were closely related
10
to the human-product interface specifications as
well as the overall shape of the product. They
carried out a user study on 65 design features of 50
different mobile phones. They developed
regression models to link the design features to
overall satisfaction and ‘luxuriousness’,
‘attractiveness’ and ‘harmoniousness’. They found
out that a number of design features mattered,
such as phone size and weight, color, material,
button shape and interface features. In addition, it
seemed that size played, to some extent, an
important role in the decision making process.
Karjaluoto et al (2005); Liu (2002) for instance
surveyed the Asian mobile phone users and found
out that size of the phone had no impact on mobile
phone’s choice, but this finding might be due to
the fact that all competing brands have quite
similar sized phones that are small enough.
Researcher beliefs that eventually the trend will
not be towards smaller phones but towards
phones with better capability and having larger
screens. Consumers are inclined to develop
stereotypical beliefs about the products from
particular countries. Hence, consumers could have
their preferences for products made from one
country over another. The price is one of the
important clues to evaluate perceived quality. It is
found that price is more relevant in judging the
perceived quality of a product given that a person
lacks the ability to evaluate the quality of a product
(Mokhlis and Yaakop, 2011; Srikatanyoo and
Gnoth, 2002; Aaker, 1991; Papadopoulos et al.,
1991). Results of Mokhlis and Yaakop (2011); Mack
and Sharples (2009) studies also highlighted the
importance of product attributes in predicting the
choice of mobile phones. Their experiment showed
that usability is important in mobile phone choices
but not as much as users themselves believe. In
actual fact, other attributes particularly features,
aesthetics and cost, may well be more of a priority
when it comes to product choice.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Theoretical Framework
The researcher has found a suitable theoretical
framework to illustrate the relationships between
all the variables in this study. The dependent purchase among consumers are brand loyalty,
variable is the consumer’s purchasing of mobile price, quality, social influence and mobile features.
phones and the factors influencing mobile phone’s

Brand Loyalty

Price

Quality Mobile Phone Purchase

Social Influence

Mobile Features

Figure 3: Theoretical Framework for Factors Influencing Mobile Phones Purchase among Consumers

Hypothesis Statement Research Approach

Based on the objectives of the study, the There are two types of research approach,
hypotheses were designed to find out the qualitative and quantitative. One way of
significant relationships or will it lead to the differentiating quantitative research from
dependent variables of the study. The hypotheses qualitative is to distinguish between numeric data
were :- and non-numeric data. Quantitative research is
often used as a synonym for any data collection
H1: Brand loyalty will lead to the consumer’s techniques such as questionnaires or data analysis
purchasing of mobile phones. that generates or uses numeric data. In contrast,
qualitative research is often used as a synonym for
H2: Price will lead to the consumer’s any non-data collection techniques, such as
purchasing of mobile phones. interviews or data analysis procedure that
generates or uses any non-numerical data. Out of
H3: Quality will lead to consumer’s
the two approaches above, the researcher has
purchasing of mobile phones.
selected quantitative research as suitable to obtain
H4: Social Influence will lead to consumer’s the desired results, as this approach was deemed
purchasing of mobile phones. as the most suitable and appropriate to test the
hyphotheses. As we know, quantitative research is
H5: Mobile Features will lead to consumer’s usually associated with a deductive approach,
purchasing of mobile phones. where the focus is on using data to test theory. The
researcher uses questionnaires to collect the data
to obtain the results for this research. The
researcher decided to use the survey methodology,
which involved questionnaires survey to undergo

11
this present research. This being the most suitable
strategy for this study since the anonymity of the
surveys, allows each respondent to answer with
more valid answers. The researcher could get the
most accurate data when respondents answered
the surveys with open and honest minds as
possible with their answers. Surveys conducted
anonymously provided an avenue for more honest
and unambiguous responses than other types of
research methodology, especially if it clearly stated
that survey answers will remain completely
confidential. Survey is useful in describing the
characteristics of a large population. It also ensures
a more accurate sample to gather targeted results,
enabling the researcher to draw conclusions and
make important decisions.
Data Collection Method
The purpose of conducting a data collection is,
firstly, to obtain feedbacks from the questionaires
or research questions distributed to the
respondents. The research questions are very
important as it serves the purpose of conducting
the research and it helps the researcher so as not
to deviate from developing the research.
Secondly, it is to test the hypotheses developed. It
is a process by which an analyst tests his statistical
hypotheses. Hypothesis is used to determine
whether the methodology employed by the analyst
depends on the nature of the data used and the
goals of the analysis. The goal is to either accept or
reject the null hypothesis. Next is to evaluate the
outcome. The outcome or result could only be
found using the method that the researcher uses.
The impact of an incorrect data collection method
would lead the researcher to getting wrong results.
The data accuracy is deemed low and the
researcher cannot pursue the research to a higher
degree. The results cannot be used for other
researchers to make the research as a reference in
the future. All efforts, time and money invested to
develop and complete the research will be a
complete waste. The most appropriate method to
be used in this research is a questionnaire method.
Basically questionnaire is a form of a set of
questions that will be asked by a researcher to a
respondent in order to gain information and
evaluation for the data analysis. As stated by
Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012); deVaus
12
(2002), questionnaire, in general, would include all
methods of data collection in which each person is
asked to respond to the same set of questions in a
predetermined order. The proposed sample of the
questionnaire’s must be knowledgeable about the
issues that are to be investigated. In measuring it,
the Likert’s Scale will be used. The scale ranges
from the numbers (1) to (5), where (1) denotes
‘Strongly Disagree’, (2) denotes ‘Disagree’, (3)
denotes ‘Neutral’, (4) denotes ‘Agree’ and lastly (5)
denotes ‘Strongly Agree’. The majority of the
respondents answering ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree’
will indicate an impact or showing the independent
variables having a significant relationship towards
the dependent variable. In evaluating the
questionnaires, the use of a Statistical Programs
for Social Science (SPSS) version 17.0 will help to
analyze the hypotheses and helps the researcher
to organize, evaluate and interpret the data. SPSS’s
software also helps to determine the appropriate
statistical technique to be used and to test the
hypotheses made by the researcher.
Sample Selection
There are two major types of sample selection,
which are probability sampling and non-probability
sampling. Probability sampling is the element in
the population that have some known chance or
probability of being selected as a sample subject.
The non-probability sampling is the element that
do not have known or predetermined chance of
being selected as a subject. The distribution of
questionnaires was selected through the
probability sampling method. There are three (3)
techniques that can be either used in the non-
probability sampling, which are convenience
sampling, quota sampling and dimensional
sampling, while in the probability sampling, there
are four (4) techniques that can be applied, such as
simple random sampling, systematic sampling,
stratified sampling and lastly the cluster sampling.
For this research, the researcher chosed the simple
random sampling, where the respondents were
potential consumers located in the vicinity of
Kangar, Perlis. The number of respondents
targeted to answer the questionnaires were about
100. The reason why the researcher selected the
sampling method was because the consumers
were located in Kangar area, in the town of Perlis,
 with many working areas. The respondent might
be the employee that used mobile phone either for
everyday use, for working purposes or potential to
purchase mobile phones. Therefore it would
facilitate the researcher to distribute the
questionnaire and the accuracy of information
obtained would be high. The respondent could also
use the same model of mobile phones that were
used in this research. The other reason was the
time limitation to conduct and complete the
research. Time plays an important role in order to
get any research completed.
Instrument
In order to understand the factors influencing
consumer’s purchase of mobile phones,
questionnaires were established. The
questionnaires were divided into five (5) sections.
The first section dealt with the respondent’s
demographics and lifestyles, which could be useful
to explain certain behaviors or cultural aspects.
Apart from several general information, such as
gender, age, education and occupation, for the
second section, respondent was asked to specify
their usage patterns of the mobile phones, what
motivates them to buy a mobile phone and their
general attitude towards technology. The third
section dealt with customer’s relationships with
the mobile phone, asking the respondent to rank
the level of satisfaction and their experience with
their mobile phone, as well as the reasons why
they seek for new products. The forth involved the
purchase behavior, analyzing all the variables, the
purchase decision criteria, the model of buying and
the last section specifically analysed the
independent variables dimensions, measuring all
the independent variables that form the decision
to purchase mobile phone.
Items
Number of questionnaires distributed
Number of questionnaires collected back
Respondent Rate
Number of questionnaires used for analysis
Figure 4: Sample Profile
Variables Categories
Age 21 – 25 years
26 – 30 years
13
FINDINGS
This section discussed the findings obtained from
the questionnaires concerning the title of research;
factors influencing consumer’s purchase of mobile
phones. The main aim for this analysis was to
achieve the research objectives. In presenting the
findings, the questionaires were divided into
several sections. First section dealt with the
demographic profile of the respondents (age,
gender, race, marital status, education level,
monthly income and profession). The next section
measured the goodness by using a reliability
analysis. This was followed by a third section,
which provided the intercorrelation between all
variables and the descriptive statistics that showed
the mean and standard deviation of all factors. The
fourth section dealt with testing the hypotheses
through a regression analysis. Lastly, this section
concluded with a presentation of the summary of
the findings.
Overview of Data Gathered
Figure 4 below showed the sample profile for the
questionnaire surveys. The researcher distributed
as many as 120 questionnaires among the selected
respondents in Kangar, Perlis area. However, only
100 questionnaires were collected back. This made
up 83.3% of the total questionnaires distributed.
The questionnaires were satisfactorily completed,
compiled and subsequently tested by using the
SPSS software version 17.0 and tabulated as
follows :-
Total Questionnaires
120
100
83.3%
100
Frequency Percentage (%)
60 60.0
18 18.0
 31 – 39 years 12 12.0
40 – 49 years 6 6.0
50 years and above 4 4.0
Gender Male 50 50.0
Female 50 50.0
Race Malay 92 92.0
Chinese 6 6.0
Others 2 2.0
Marital Status Single 62 62.0
Married 37 37.0
Widowed / Divorced 1 1.0
Education Level SPM 22 22.0
STPM 8 8.0
Diploma 16 16.0
Degree 50 50.0
Master 3 3.0
Others 1 1.0
Monthly Income RM 1000 and below 47 47.0
RM 1000 - 1500 25 25.0
RM 1500 - 2000 11 11.0
RM 2000 - 2500 6 6.0
RM 2500 - 3000 4 4.0
RM 3000 and above 7 7.0
Profession Government 50 50.0
Private 14 14.0
Students 35 35.0
Unemployed 1 1.0
Figure 5: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Figure 5 summarized all the demographic data of
the respondents, which included age, gender, race,
marital status, education level, monthly income
and lastly profession. Out of the 100 completed
questionaires on age, majority of the 60
respondents were aged between 21-25 years old
(60%), 18 respondents were aged between 26-30
years old (18%), 12 of the respondents were aged
between 31-39 years (12%), 6 respondents were
aged between 40-49 years and 4 respondents (4%)
were aged 50 years and above. The result also
showed that 50% of the respondents were male
with 50% being female. In the ‘race’ criteria, 92
respondents were Malay (92%), 6 respondents
were Chinese (6%) and the balance (2%) were
other races. In terms of marital status, 62
respondents were single (62%), 37 were married
(37%) and under the widowed / divorced category
was 1% (1 respondent). In the field of “Education”,
50 respondents obtained a first degree (50%), 22
respondents had a SPM level (22%) qualification,
Diploma level was 16 respondents (16%), 8
respondents had attained STPM level (8%), for a
Master’s degree only 8 respondents (8%) and lastly
other education levels was represented by 1
respondent (1%). For the monthly income, a total
of 47 respondents earned RM 1,000 and below
(47%) and there were 25 respondents with
monthly income ranging from RM1,000-1,500
(25%), 11 respondents had monthly income
between RM1,600-2,000 (11%), 7 respondents
earned RM3,000 and above (7%), 6 respondents
earned between RM2,000-2,500 (6%) and lastly
there were 4 respondents (9%) earning between
RM2,500- 3,000. As for profession, the majority of
respondents were working in the government
sector, totalling 50 respondents (50%), followed by
students with 35 respondents (35%). The private
sectors comprised 14 respondents (14%) and 1
respondent was unemployed (1%).

14
 Reliability Analysis factor. In Table 4.3, it showed the reliability
analysis test results of the variables and the
A reliability analysis is used to find and measure Cronbach’s alpha for each variable. The
the goodness of all data. Reliability analysis is often coefficients for Brand Loyalty was 0.788, followed
used to ensure that all items used in each variable by Price (0.662), Quality (0.795), Social Influence
are free from errors and thus could provide a (0.681) and lastly Mobile Features (0.834). There
consistent result for the research. In this study, the were three cut-off points for reliability, i.e. Poor
Cronbach’s coefficients alpha values for all factors, (0.6 and below), Acceptable (0.7) and Good (0.8
that ranged from 0.662 to 0.837, indicated good and above).
and acceptable inter-item consistency for each
Variables Number of Items Items Dropped Cronbach Alpha Indicator
Brand Loyalty 5 - .788 Acceptable
Price 5 - .662 Acceptable
Quality 5 - .795 Acceptable
Social Influence 5 - .681 Acceptable
Mobile Features 5 - .834 Good
Figure 6: Reliability Analysis Test

Factors Mean Standard Deviation

Factors Influencing Consumer’s Purchase of 3.4900 .84202
Mobile Phones
Brand Loyalty 3.4620 .70191
Price 3.4620 .70191
Quality 3.6900 .74799
Social Influence 3.4880 .71651
Mobile Features 3.7740 .83056
Figure 7: Descriptive Analysis

Based on the above table, the mean for all the variables ranged between 3.4620 to 3.7740 and for the standard
deviation, ranged between 0.70191 to 0.84202. The mean and standard deviations for the independent variables were
Brand Loyalty 3.4620 (0.70191), Price 3.4620 (0.70191), Quality 3.6900 (0.74799), Social Influence 3.4880 (0.71651)
and Mobile Features 3.7740 (0.83056).
Consumer’
s
Social Mobile
Purchasing Brand Loyalty Price Quality
Influence Features
of Mobile
Phones
** ** ** ** **
Consumer Pearson Correlation 1 .554 .554 .691 .646 .562
purchasing
mobile Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
phones
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
** ** ** ** **
Brand Pearson Correlation .554 1 1.000 .583 .582 .563
Loyalty
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100

15
 ** ** ** ** **
Price Pearson Correlation .554 1.000 1 .583 .582 .563

Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100

** ** ** ** **
Quality Pearson Correlation .691 .583 .583 1 .710 .805
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000
N 100 100 100 100 100 100
** ** ** ** **
Social Pearson Correlation .646 .582 .582 .710 1 .662
Influence
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100

** ** ** ** **
Mobile Pearson Correlation .562 .563 .563 .805 .662 1
Features
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

N 100 100 100 100 100 100

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Figure 8: Correlation Coefficient Analysis

Figure 8 above indicated a good relation within the consumers with coefficients of 0.554, 0.554, 0.691,
variables. It can determine whether that variable 0.646 and 0.562 respectively. They had a strong
had a strong correlation with the other variables. relationship when approaching to a value of 1. The
Brand Loyalty, Price, Quality, Social Influence and value of Pearson’s correlation also showed a
Mobile Features were strongly correlated with the positive value, an indication of a positive
factors influencing mobile phone purchase among correlation.
Variable Beta t-ratio Sig.
Brand Loyalty .554 6.596 .000
Price .174 1.938 .056
Quality .776 3.701 .000
Social Influence .273 2.615 .010
Mobile Features -100 -0.826 .411

R square = .545
Durbin - Watson = 1.970
F = 28.491
Sig. F = .000

Figure 9: Results of Regression Analysis on Acceptance

Table 9 displayed the results of the regression
analysis on acceptance. Regression analysis is used
to determine the relationships between dependent
and independent variables. Regression helps to
understand the value of the dependent variables
affected by change in the value of two of the
independent variables are varied, while other
independent variables remain unchanged. The
factors influencing mobile phone among
consumers was 54.5% affected by brand loyalty,
price, quality, social influence and mobile features.
The remaining of 45.5% was affected by other

16
 factors. In order to determine the factors
influencing mobile phone purchasing among
consumers, all the five independent variables must
have significant effect of not more than 0.005. If
more, the hypothesis has to be rejected and if they
are less, the hypothesis can be accepted. In the
above mentioned analysis , there was a significant
relationship between Hypothesis 1, which was
brand loyalty and the dependent variable being
consumer’s purchasing of mobile phones since the
significant level was 0.000. It showed a level of less
than 0.005, indicating that this hypothesis can be
accepted. In respect of Hypothesis 2, which was
Price, the significant level was 0.5, so this
hypothesis has to be rejected. Hypothesis 3 was on
Quality. There was significant relationships
between Hypothesis 3 and consumer’s purchasing
of mobile phones, since the significant relationship
was 0.000, therefore the hypothesis can be
accepted. Next was the factor of Social Influence
for Hypothesis 4. Hypothesis 4 also showed no
significant relationship towards independent
variable since the significant relationship was
0.010, more than 0.005 and has to be rejected.
Lastly, Hypothesis 5 showed that the significant
relationship between social influence and
consumer purchasing mobile phones was 0.411,
exceeding the level of 0.005 and therefore,
Hypothesis 5 has to be rejected.
Summary
Based on the analysis conducted earlier and after
the results were tabulated, Figure 10 showed the
overall results of the five hypotheses testing,
summarised as follows :-

No. of
Statement of Hypothesis Results
Hypothesis
H1 Brand loyalty will lead to the consumer purchasing mobile phones Accepted
H2 Price will lead to the consumer purchasing mobile phones Rejected
H3 Quality will lead to consumer purchasing mobile phones Accepted
H4 Social influence will lead to consumer purchasing mobile phones Accepted
H5 Mobile features will lead to consumer purchasing mobile phones Rejected
Figure 10: Hypothesis Testing Results

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings of this study will be presented and
conclusion drawn. The implications of the study
will be stated and the limitations of research will
be elaborated together with any suggestions for
further research. Based on these results,
recommendations will be proposed to clarify the
value of the study. The present study was
conducted to examine the factors influencing
consumer’s purchasing of mobile phones. There
were five independent variables of the present
study, which were Brand Loyalty, followed by
Price, Quality, Social Influence and lastly, Mobile
Features. For the dependent variables, the present
research stated consumer’s purchasing of mobile
phone as a dependent variable. Hypothesis 1
examined the relationship between Brand Loyalty
that would led to consumer’s purchasing of mobile
phones. If the customer had already put their trust
in one particular brand name, they would
continuously buy the same brand for the next
purchase or better described as loyalty. They were
loyal to that brand and found it hard to turn to
other brand for their satisfaction towards mobile
phones. Under the influence of brand loyalty,
consumers would continue to buy the brand,
regardless of the superior features, prices or
convenience offered by its competitors. The more
loyal the consumers are towards the brand, the
less vulnerable the customers base would be.
(Kwok, 2007; Atilgan et al., 2005; Keller, 1998;
Aaker, 1991). This hypothes can be accepted.
Hypothesis 2 examined the relationship between
Price that would led to consumer’s purchasing of
mobile phones. Generally, Price is included among
the most important factors that consumer will

17
decide before purchasing items. Price is one
element of marketing mix (4P’s). It can change very
easily as compared to other elements of marketing
mix. The marketer can then decide to lower or
raise the Price more frequently. Price is also
considered as having a strong relationship with
brand loyalty. Consumers with high brand loyalty
are willing to pay a premium price for their favored
brand, so, their purchase intention is not easily
affected by price (Yee and Sidek, 2008). But
unfortunately by referring to the result of this
present study, this hypothesis has been rejected.
Hypothesis 3 examined the relationship between
Quality that would led to consumer’s purchasing of
mobile phones. Some consumer believes that
quality can help them to decide whether to buy or
not to buy the product. Quality surpasses the
customer’s expectations and the extent to which
the customers or users believe the product or
service surpasses their needs and expectations.
Product Quality in a broad sense is defined as
“superiority or excellence” of a product (Alfred,
2013; Zeithaml and Dawar; 1999). This hypothesis
can be accepted.
Hypothesis 4 examined the relationship between
Social Influences on similar subject. Our
environment plays a pivotal role in our daily life.
Social Influence can come in a form of people
(family members, colleagues and friends) or in a
form of environment, such as working place, social
place for gathering and so on. Besides the family,
friends and relatives, there were also some other
social influences that can be categorized into some
inner thoughts that can influence the consumer to
purchase a product. These include feelings and
attitudes that can affect purchasing decision.
Hypothesis 4 can be accepted. Lastly, Hypothesis 5
dealt with the relationship between Mobile
Features that would led to consumer’s purchase of
mobile phones. According to Mokhlis and Yaakop
(2011); Yun, Han, Hong and Kim (2003), they had
investigated the look-and-feel of fifty (50) different
mobile phones using a consumer survey. Seventy-
eight (78) participants evaluated the design of
phones on the perceived scale of image /
impression characteristics and overall satisfaction.
It was found that the image and impression
characteristics of the products were closely related
to the human-product interface specifications as
18
well as overall shape of the product. However,
according to our result, this hypothesis has to be
rejected, which means that not all people
(especially people in Kangar) will purchase mobile
phones based on the features.
The results of the present study showed that it was
important to know what factors had influence
consumer’s purchase of mobile phones. This study
may assist the mobile phone companies in respect
of both marketing and advertising their products
especially to the people in Kangar, Perlis. They can
specify a target group and how to promote the
products based on the result form this study.
Present study can also help the consumer to make
a decision based on the current preferences of the
people. Some people are very concern about what
other people think. Therefore this study might help
them to take into consideration before purchasing
the mobile phones. In a nutshell, this study was
surely without its own limitations, as the result of
the findings might be biased because the data
obtained would not be a total representative of
change that occurred in Kangar. Incidently, there
were a number of respondents who were not able
to answer the questionnaires correctly, as the
conditions and environment of the questionnaires
were targetted to working people only. The sample
was limited to a selected region in Malaysia, this
being in Kangar, Perlis. Furthermore, the
respondents might not be a true representation of
the Malaysian context as a whole since the study
was only confined to 100 respondents. In addition,
time constraint hindered this study as the
researcher did not have much time to collect the
data. Given sufficient time, perhaps the researcher
could get more reliable and valid data collection
processes in the future.
Regarding future research recommendations, the
researcher suggests that all the limitations stated
above should be overcome. Future studies should
take into account these factors and the researcher
would suggest obtaining a larger sample size and
adding more number of respondents, preferably
two-hundred (200) respondents and above.
Different people have different preference in
purchasing anything. In this case, mobile phone is
the subject of the people in purchasing. The
decision to purchase is sometimes driven by the
basic needs and wants, which are increasing and
improving to a better stage. It is also driven by the
other factors, such as for the mobile phone itself,
brand loyalty, price, quality and also the mobile
phone features. The other factors driving it is social
influence. The data that the researcher obtained
from the present study has been briefly presented
above. Having a total respondent of one-hundred
(100), representing 83.3% of the total respondent
rate of the total sample, the present study found
out that three out of the five (5) independent
variables tested, were positively related to the
dependent variable and the other two (2) were
not. Brand Loyalty, Quality and Social Influence
were the factors that had influenced consumer’s
purchase of mobile phones, whereas, Price and
Mobile Features were not the factors that had
influenced them. In concluding this present study,
the researcher has also contributed to a better
understanding of the factors on why consumers
purchase that particular brand of mobile phones.
This present study focuses only at one area, in
Kangar, Perlis. Having limited methods and a few
number of respondents, this result cannot assume
in general that all consumers in Malaysia also
consider the factors of Brand Loyalty, Quality and
Social Influence in purchasing of mobile phones.
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