A STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR AND

PREFERENCES TOWARDS MOBILE PHONES IN BHOPAL

BCOM Honours
By
Ashutosh Singh Parihar
to the
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
BHOPAL SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

APRIL 2021
Submitted by
ASHUTOSH SINGH PARIHAR
Submitted to

Dr. SWAPNA PILLAI

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 CERTIFICATE

It is certified that the work contained in the project report titled A

STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR AND
PREFERENCES TOWARDS MOBILE PHONES IN BHOPAL by
Ashutosh Singh Parihar has been carried out under my/our supervision
and that this work has not been submitted elsewhere for a degree*

Signature of Supervisor: …………….

Name: Dr. Swapna Pillai , Associate Professor

Department: Commerce

Bhopal School of Social Sciences

April, 2021
 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project report entitled “ A STUDY ON

CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR AND PREFERENCES
TOWARDS MOBILE PHONES IN BHOPAL”was carried out by me
for the degree of BCOM Honours under the guidance and supervision
of MRS Swapna Pillai of Department of Commerce, BSSS College.
The interpretations put forth are based on my reading and
understanding of the original texts and they are not published anywhere
in any form. The other books, articles and websites, which I have made
use of are acknowledged at the respective place in the text. This
research report is not submitted for any other degree or diploma in any
other University.

Place: Bhopal

Name of the Student: Ashutosh Singh Parihar

Class & Section: BCOM (HONS) 3rd year

Date: 15/04/2021
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to thank our Principal Dr. Fr. John P.J. and Vice Principal
Dr Sr Sonia Kurien for their immense support and blessings. I thank
our HOD Dr Amit Kumar Nag for his support. I would like to express
my special thanks of gratitude to my research guide Dr. MRS Swapna
Pillai Associate Professor of Department of Commerce for her
valuable suggestions and guidance and for giving me the golden
opportunity to do this wonderful research project on the topic A
STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOUR AND
PREFERENCES TOWARDS MOBILE PHONES IN BHOPAL.
Without her help it would have been difficult for me to have reached
this state of completion of my project report. Also, I would like to thank
my parents and friends who helped me a lot in the preparation of this
project.

I wish to acknowledge the help of all those who have provided me

information, guidance and other help during my research period.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter I: Introduction of the Topic

1.1 Rationale of the Study
1.2 Introduction to the industry
1.3 Introduction to the company
1.4 Justification of the topic
Chapter 2: Review of Literature
2.1 International Reviews
2.2 National Reviews
Chapter 3 : Research Methodology
3.1 Objectives of the Study
3.2 Research Hypothesis
3.3 Scope of the Study
3.4 Data Collection
3.5 Limitation of the study
Chapter 4 : Data representation & Analysis
4.1 Data representation & Interpretation
4.2 Hypothesis Testing
Chapter 5. Results & Discussion
5.1 Major Findings
5.2 Discussions & Suggestions
5.3 Conclusion
REFERENCES
ANNEXURE
 CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION OF THE TOPIC

1.1 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY

The behavior of consumers towards smartphones is increasingly a
focus of marketing research. In particular, consumer behavior in the
smartphone industry, from adoption motivation to post-usage behavior
has become a major focus of research in the field of marketing. The
results of the research confirm that the regulatory focus has an
influence on consumer behavior towards smartphone purchase decision
by affecting their perception, motivation, and lifestyle. India is one of
the fastest growing economies in the world and the smartphone industry
in India is also growing very fast. For consumers’ smartphones have
become essential parts of personal and business life. There is a
continuous increase in disposable income; there has been a major shift
in the attitude and aspirations of the consumers. This research is to
analyze the external and internal factors which influence a consumer’s
decision in purchasing a smartphone. The research also focuses on
consumer attitude for smartphones and the influence brand name has
on consumer buying decisions. The recent growth of smartphone usage
is an observable fact that crosses all age and gender boundaries. Hence,
this research explores through quantitative analysis some of the key
factors believed to affect consumer’s attitudes and behaviors towards
smartphone purchase.
Smartphone’s are one of the trending social media in these days. It’s
became as part of the life as become handicapped without this.
Smartphone is playing a major role that which has put back our
television, Radio FM, watch, etc. In this technology and competitive
era. This study will be more essential designed for Mobility companies
that their sales &profit’s will be based on customer requirement and
perceptions. All the consumers use Smartphone to make their life easier
and to adopt the digitalized world by connecting internet with the whole
world. Features/attributes that considered by customers while buying
Smartphone’s are/such as brand image, functional/features and apps,
battery usage, operating system, resolution of camera, pixels, storage
capacity, durability& compatibility, price. These also include different
brands like ex-China phones.
The craze for mobile services in India is increasing substantially.
Information technology has brought tremendous change in day-to-day
activities of common man to entrepreneurs. Mobile as a medium is
growing fast with its easy accessibility and reach. It is not just telecom
centric. From a communication tool, it has emerged as a device for all
purposes. With most adults and many children now owning mobile
phones.
The cell phones have all qualities and features that qualify them to be
called as a mini computer. ‘Such handheld compact gadgets that offer
both communication and computing are known as Smart phones’. A
recent research presents that India has overtaken even the U.S. and has
qualified to be the world’s second-largest smartphone market by the
users. The future projections say that a billion smartphone sales would
be generated in the coming five years. India is a market wherein the
leading smartphones brands in the world involve in cut throat
competition and make every possible effort to win the Indian customer.
This research paper is aimed at studying the consumer buying behavior
with respect to smart phones in India specifically at the Delhi/NCR
region. The purpose of this study is to understand two major consumer
decisions while buying a smartphone.

1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE INDUSTRY

The mobile industry is a subset of the telecommunications industry
focused on mobile phones, phone service, and peripheral devices. In
the 1990s and 2000s, this industry experienced rapid growth as a result
of significant advances in mobile technology and increasing consumer
demand for mobile products.
There are a number of elements to the mobile industry. Mobile phone
producers are one aspect, covering everything from companies
supplying raw materials to distributors fulfilling orders for mobile
phones. Service providers are another category of the cellphone
industry; many of these partner with specific manufacturers to make
branded phones and devices with special features. Manufacturers of
smart phones, specialized modems for computers, tablet computers
with mobile functionality, and similar devices are also part of the
mobile industry. Likewise with producers of accessories.
Members of this industry include a number of multinational
corporations with very wide reach, in addition to smaller companies
offering localized services, like regional mobile phone providers. They
are represented by a number of lobbies and professional organizations
who work with regulatory agencies, manufacturers, and other
interested parties to develop standards and practices for the cellphone
industry as a whole. For example, in the 2000s, there was a push toward
universal charging devices to make mobile phones easier to charge.
As with other aspects of the tech sector, the mobile industry in the
2000s attracted a great deal of investor attention and was pressured to
rapidly roll out new products, as well as improvements to their existing
products. Global coverage with mobile phone service also became a
topic of interest; in some regions, people skipped landline service
altogether for telecommunications, jumping directly to mobile phones
because the network was cheaper and easier to implement. Stock
indexes focusing on telecommunications and the mobile industry
provided a method for investing easily in companies of interest,
stimulating trading in shares related to this industry, as well as
telecommunications in general.
Employment opportunities in this industry are highly varied.
Engineers, technicians, repair personnel, and similar workers are
needed for building and maintaining devices and cell towers.
Marketing professionals are involved in the development of ad
campaigns, and customer service personnel are needed to sell products
and services. Creative professionals interested in visual design and
aesthetics are also in demand in the industry for companies working on
developing phones with specific aesthetic characteristics.
1.3 INTRODUCTION TO THE COMPANY
SAMSUNG: Samsung, South Korean company that is one of the
world’s largest producers of electronic devices. Samsung specializes in
the production of a wide variety of consumer and industry electronics,
including appliances, digital media devices, semiconductors, memory
chips, and integrated systems. It has become one of the most-
recognizable names in technology and Samsung was founded as a
grocery trading store on March 1, 1938, by Lee Byung-Chull. He
started his business in Taegu, Korea, trading noodles and other goods
produced in and around the city and exporting them to China and its
provinces. After the Korean War, Lee expanded his business into
textiles and opened the largest woolen mill in Korea. He focused
heavily on industrialization with the goal of helping his country
redevelop itself after the war. During that period his business benefited
from the new protectionist policies adopted by the Korean government,
whose aim was to help large domestic conglomerates (chaebol) by
shielding them from competition and providing them easy financing.

During the 1970s the company expanded its textile-manufacturing

processes to cover the full line of production—from raw materials all
the way to the end product—to better compete in the textile industry.
New subsidiaries such as Samsung Heavy Industries, Samsung
Shipbuilding, and Samsung Precision Company (Samsung Techwin)
were established. Also, during the same period, the company started to
invest in the heavy, chemical, and petrochemical industries, providing
the company a promising growth path.
OPPO: OPPO is a global electronics and technology service provider.
It delivers the latest and the most delicate mobile electronic devices for
their user. OPPO is here for those that expect more from their
smartphone than a run-of-the-mill experience.

OPPO is relentless in the pursuit of the latest technology and the highest
standards of hardware quality. OPPO is try to deliver the best
experience to user as possible. The beautiful products-inside and out,
everything is considered just created for the user. From the tactile
qualities to the aesthetic aspects of each device – every angle, every
color, every piece is meticulously crafted product for their user .
From the start, OPPO’s products have pushed boundaries. Since its
founding in 2004, OPPO has consistently strived to deliver users this
ideology across the globe. Having successfully entered into the mobile
phone market in 2008. OPPO began looking at expansion into
international markets in 2010 and opened its first overseas business in
April of 2010 in Thailand.Today, OPPO is presenting in 21 markets
worldwide.

OPPO is wholeheartedly inspired by its customers. Based on the

customers’ feedback on both the hardware and software user
experience, OPPO has adopted a strategy of rapid release for
smartphone development, firmware updates as well as expand to reach
and service their customers across the world.
ONE PLUS: The OnePlus One (colloquially abbreviated to OPO) is
an Android smartphone manufactured by OnePlus. Unveiled in April
2014, it is the first product by OnePlus. The OnePlus One was designed
to compare favorably – in performance, quality, and price – to flagship
devices by leading smartphone manufacturers. It was also intended to
be developer friendly, and has since received a wide variety of ROMs
and custom kernels from the community. The OnePlus One shipped to
most markets with the Cyanogen OS operating system pre-installed, a
commercial variant of Cyanogen Mod.
The phone was first made available for sale on 25 April 2014,
exclusively from the OnePlus website, but initially required
prospective customers to obtain an invitation before they could
purchase it. These invitations were primarily distributed by the
company through contests, some of which attracted attention for their
unconventional or controversial nature. On 6 June 2014, the device was
available for general sale. As of 20 April 2015, the device no longer
required an invite to purchase.
XIAOMI: MI stand for Mobile Internet. It is the brilliant idea by a
serial entrepreneur Lei Jun in 2010. This private Chinese electronic
company headquartered in Beijing, China. Xiaomi company is the 4th
largest smartphone maker.

Xiaomi is not solely focus on design, develops, selling smartphones but

also committed in creating mobile apps and related consumer
electronics. Their product include Mi TV, Mi band, Mi Power Bank,
MiCloud, Mi Box and others internet-peripheral. However in our page,
we will focus on smartphone which is the most popular device Xiaomi
ever made.
NOKIA: Nokia is a Finnish multinational corporation founded on 12
May 1865 as a single paper mill operation. Through the 19th century
the company expanded, branching into several different products. In
1967, the Nokia corporation was formed. In the late 20th century, the
company took advantage of the increasing popularity of computer and
mobile phones. However, increased competition and other market
forces caused changes in Nokia's business arrangements. In 2014,
Nokia's mobile phone business was sold to Microsoft.
1.4 JUSTIFICATION OF THE TOPIC
The mobile phones dominate most of modern human in every
movement of life. Which Nowadays is becoming a part of basic needs
of a person as means of communication across the world during the last
fifteen years. Every individual use mobile for not only communication
purpose, but also it became a personal assistance to make an everyday
life easier. The development of mobile communication technology e.
g. wireless internet, mobile phone, MP3 player, GPS navigation system
has been a long journey of innovation, which is constantly evolving and
updating as a result of consumers changing needs and preferences
(Mokhlis, S. & Yaakop, A.Y.). There is a problem of hard competition
among various brands of mobile phones in the market. Every day a new
phone is launched with enhanced features and technology.
Nevertheless of the fact that this competition has provided the
consumer a wide variety of mobile phones to choose from at the same
time there is also confusion prevailing in the minds of consumer about
which of particular mobile phone suits their requirements the most.
This problem of choice is known as brand preference. Brand preference
has negatively impacted the marketers as well as consumers. For
marketers increase in competition leads to decrease in sales for mobile
phones as market share is now divided among more sellers. For
consumers, it involves opportunity cost, i.e. cost of foregoing best
alternate. So the study of brand preference is of great importance for
the marketers as well as consumers. So the marketers have to study the
various mobile phone attributes that influence the consumer brand
preference towards mobile phones to face this competition. Perhaps a
study which investigates the Consumer Brand Preference towards
Mobile Phones by Factor Analysis method could remedy the situation.
Due to the dynamic business environment and stiff competition in the
global market, both local and multinational companies review their
marketing strategies to gain competitive edge and survive in the market
(Aaker, 2012). Companies in the global business environment position
their products and services from the psychological aspect of consumers
to determine their performance in the competitive business
environment (Ambler and Tim, 2010). Macro forces which include;
political, economic, social and technological forces have influenced
consumer behavior toward various products and services produced in
the market (Anand and Bharat, 2011). Competitive strategies that have
been developed by local and internal companies to gain competitive
edge revolve around product strategies, pricing strategies, promotion
strategies and distribution strategies (Anderson, et al, 2010). Due to
intense competition in the mobile phone industry and changing
consumer needs and wants toward their products and services in Kenya,
mobile phone players in the industry have been necessitated to
introduce innovative products and services, segment markets, and
positions their products in the market from the psychological aspect of
consumers which include; motivation, learning, attitude and perception
in order to improve their performance (Bordley and Robert, 2011).
Smartphone industry has been booming since 1983. Since then, there
have been many large mobile phone companies stepping their foot into
the industry. Western Smartphone makers, like Apple and Google, are
increasingly looking east for growth, giving countries like India
significant influence over the sorts of features they build into their
phones.

CHAPTER-2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

 Kotler and Armstrong (2001), Consumer buying behavior refers
to the buying behavior of the individuals and households who buy
goods and services for personal consumption. Consumers around
the world are different in various factors such as age, income,
education level and preferences which may affect the way they avail
of goods and services. This behavior then impacts how products and
services are presented to the different consumer markets. There are
many components which influence consumer behavior namely;
cultural, social, personal, and psychological (kotler and Armstrong,
2001). Consumer behavior is the study of when, why, how and
where people do or do not buy products (Sandhusen, Richard L;
2000).

 Kundi J. et al (2008) Stated that consumer behavior refers

to the mental and emotional process and the observable
behavior of consumers during searching, purchasing and
post consumption of a product or services. Consumer
behavior blends the elements from psychology, sociology,
sociopsychology, anthropology and economics.

 According to Grote (2002) the perceptual process is the

sequence of psychological steps that a person uses to
organize and interpret information from the outside world
.The selection, organization and interpretation on
perceptions can differ among different 11 people. Therefore
when people react differently in a situation, part of their
behavior can be explained by examining their perceptual
process, and how their perceptions are leading to their
responses.

 Brands also have a symbolic value which helps the people

to choose the best product according to their need and
satisfaction (Bordley and Robert, 2011).

 Loyalty and trust of the customers is very important for a

company because it reduces the chance of attack from
competitors (Aaker, 2008).

 Brands do have life cycle which may consist of a number of

phases from inception to launch, growth, maturing, decline,
revitalization, and retirement (Davis et al. 2010).
2.1 NATIONAL REVIEWS
 (Chowdhury & Rahman, 2013.[3]) studied the relationship
between demographic variables on the brand preference and
identified the attributes that affect the choice behavior of
mobile handsets as well as why the young consumers give
special emphasis to some particular factors in the Chittagong
metropolitan city. young respondents emphasize less
importance on durability, price, others advice and opinion
because of their swift switching attitude. As a whole, Samsung
is competing with industry leader Nokia, Symphony, Sony
Erricson and other brands grab a share of the youth market.

 (Gopal & Anjali & Aakanksha, 2013) studied showed that in

today’s market medium screen phone is quite popular,
followed by large screen phones while the only minority of
buyers go for the small screen models as evident from the
survey conducted on consumers. As far as the size and weight
of handsets are considered, slim handsets are leading the
consumer market, followed by medium and as for the weight,
light weighted phones are more popular while heavy weighted
are the least while medium weighted phones still hold a
ground in the market as observed from the study conducted.

 (Marumbwa and Thakur, 2013) conducted a study to identify

brand image positively influence the consumer brand
preference and increase in customer satisfaction levels would
yield positive consumer brand preferences.

 (Rijal, 2013) studied the criteria that student preferred on

brand while purchasing a mobile phone. In a study technical
criteria and economic criteria play a very important role to
prefer brand and internet and friends are the main two sources
from where they get information about the branded mobile
phones.
 Das (as cited in Sata, 2013.[7]) conducted an empirical
research based on survey method. According to the study, a
handset of reputed brand, smart appearance, and with
advanced value added features, pleasure ability and usability;
is the choice of young consumers; females in gender-group,
post-graduates in level of education group, students in
occupational group, urban residents in the geographical area
group plays most prominent role in buying decision of a
mobile handset.

 (Singh, 2012) conducted a study to identify the customer

preferences towards various mobile phone handsets in Punjab.
In order to cope up with the research purpose, primary data
was collected and analyzed which showed that Price
Consciousness, Multimedia options, Features and Looks and
Brand Image were the four factors significant in influencing
the purchase behavior of mobile phones.

 (Liao, Yu-Jui, 2012[9]) investigated the determinants in smart

phone purchases and identified the market segmentation of
smart phone. The result of the study shows that when buying
a smart phone, a consumer who considers that product design
and integration of hardware and software are important and
that the convenience of transferring files or media display are
not important would choose Apple’s iPhone.

 Osman et al. concluded that the selling price is not the most
important factor that affects smartphone purchasing decision,
whereas the consumers perceive other factors such as design,
connectivity, and performance to be more important than the
price.
 Kaushal and Kumar inferred that the consumers are using or
want to purchase Smartphone because their social circle is
using it and hence they are also motivated and inspired to use
Smart phone.

 Rani and Sharma found that the maximum users purchased the
Smartphone for work related purpose. The price, performance,
design and quality factors play an important role for
smartphone purchase.

CHAPTER-3

RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

3.1 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

The researcher has observed and evaluated consumer opinion and the
growing demand for mobile phones. The basic objectives of the
systematic research are given below:

 To explore the key factors which motivate consumers to

purchase and use Smart Phones.

 To find the reason behind usage of smart phone.

  To identify the customer attitude towards smart phone.

 To know the customer satisfaction level of the smart

phones.

 To identify the Customer’s Preference towards the mobile

network service provider.

 To study the factors influencing the customers to select a

mobile network service provider.

3.2 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

A research hypothesis is an assumption that demonstrates the
interpreted relationships among various possible factors. The
hypothesized correlation coefficients are based on existing writings.
Many such inferential statistics or methodologies can be used to
confirm all such relationships. Based on the success of regression
techniques, these hypothesis may or may not be embraced. The
following hypothesis was developed for testing in accordance with the
study’s objectives:

H1 Product related dimension is positively correlated with pre

purchase evaluation
H2 Regulatory dimension is positively correlated to the pre
purchase evaluation
H3 Lifestyle is positively correlated to the pre purchase
evaluation
H4 Consumer’s attitude towards instant food products is directly
and positively correlated to the pre purchase evaluation
H5 Pre purchase evaluation is directly and positively correlated
to actual purchase behavior.
3.3 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Smartphone usage has proliferated in recent years. Nowadays people

seem to become dependent towards Smartphone due to its convenience,
great camera features, easy applications installations, and more
importantly, it can do most of the computer functions on the go. In this
technology and competitive era, this study aims to explore the key
factors which motivate consumers to purchase and use Smart Phones.
Further, the reason behind usage of smart phone is found and to identify
the customer attitude towards smart phone and finally to know the
customer’s satisfaction level towards smart phones. This study is more
essential for Smartphone companies as their sales and profit will be
depend upon on customer perception. Overall this study will facilitate
the improvement of Smartphone industry in the view of customer
perception and their attitude.
The number of respondents has been limited to 54 as during the
coronavirus pandemic, it was difficult to approach people physically
owing to physical mobility constraints.
Therefore, in order to collect responses from respondents, an online
questionnaire was formulated and was circulated among respondents
based in Bhopal.
The time period selected for this survey and circulation of questionnaire
was April,2021 during which the country was facing pandemic.
Therefore, owing to lack of available resources, the scope of the study
is limited in nature.

3.4 DATA COLLECTION

GEOGRAPHICAL AREA:
BHOPAL

DURATION OF STUDY:
15 DAYS

SAMPLE SIZE:
50 PEOPLE (DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS)

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE:
RANDOM SAMPLING TECHNIQUE

 POPULATION:

It is the predefined set of potential elements or respondents

in a geographical area. It is the aggregate of all the elements
sharing some common set of characteristics that
compromise the universe for the purpose of addressing the
research problem.

In this study, the universe for the present study shall

constitute consumer who purchase mobile phones.

 SAMPLE:

Sample is a subgroup of population selected for the

participation of the study.

In this study, a sub group of adults and millennial are taken

into considerations.
  SAMPLE SIZE:

It specifies the number of samples chosen from a target

population. The sample size has been selected as 54 in order
to include some more elements of the population.

 SAMPLING METHOD:

The sample size of 54 respondents from Bhopal has been

estimated by using random sampling technique.

3.4 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Despite all sincere efforts to collect relevant information and data
regarding this topic, there are some limitations to this study. Although
the study is explanatory in nature, sample for the study is restricted to
respondents in certain cities of India and the heterogeneous population
could act as a limitation owing to demographic, sociographic and
psychographic factors.

 The respondents were aged 15-80 years, as this age group

wherein people have literacy regarding the mobile phones they
use is good for or not.

 The respondents cognitive biases, prejudices and preferences

along with the respondent fatigue may have affected their
decisions while filling out the questionnaire, which could have
affected the quality of the study.

 Since there’s a large telecom market in India containing many

sectors, all of the sectors could not be covered. So as to
facilitate easy explanation and understanding of this study, the
 sector for research is limited to instant mobile phones. This may
also be viewed as a limitation to this study.

 The study area was limited to Bhopal district and the findings
may not be applicable to other markets, as vast differences exist
among the consumers with regard to demographic and
psychographics characteristics.

 Further owing to the lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic,

the number of respondents that could be approached was 54 as
physical questionnaire could not be handed out.

 Time and money based restrictions also served as a limitation.

CHAPTER-4

DATA REPRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 DATA REPRESENTATION AND INTERPRETATION

To evaluate the objectives of the study, required data were collected

from primary sources.
The data required for the study were collected from the selected
respondents by circulating an online questionnaire.
General information from the individual respondents on their social and
demographic characteristics like age, educational status, occupation.
4.2 HYPOTHESIS TESTING

The two major types of hypothesis are null and alternative.

Null hypothesis states that there is no significant relationship between

the two variables being studied and the results are due to chance and
are not significant in terms of supporting the idea being investigated.
Alternative hypothesis states that there is relationship between the two
variables studied and that the results are not due to chance and that they
are significant in terms of supporting the theory being investigated.
Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between
consumer perception of mobile phones and their awareness regarding
it.

Alternative Hypothesis(H1): There is significant relationship

between consumer perception of mobile phones and their awareness
regarding it.
 CHAPTER-5

RESULTS & DISCUSSIONS

5.1 MAJOR FINDINGS

The research based on a primary survey of 54 people in Bhopal aimed

at studying the consumers buying behavior and their perception and
awareness towards mobile phones.
The findings from the research are:

 Among 54 respondents 100% were males and no one was

female.

 Among 54 respondents 22.2% belongs to (0-20) age group,

40.7% belongs to (21-40) age group, 22.2% belongs to (41-
60) age group and 14.8% belongs to (61-80) age group.

 Among 54 respondents 44.4% were students, 25.9% were

professionals and 29.6% were house makers.

 Among 54 respondents 88.9% people were aware about

mobile phones and 11.1% were not aware.

 Among 54 respondents 96.3% of people have a smartphone

and 3.7% people don’t own a mobile phone.

 Among 54 students 38.9% people use phones for

entertainment purpose, 13% for study purpose and the rest
48.1 for work purpose.
  Among 54 respondents 85.2% were users of apple phones
the rest of the people are using other companies mobile
phones like oppo, vivo, one plus, etc.

 Among 54 respondents 87% people like the apple store

mobile phones.

 Among 54 respondents 92.6% of people buy mobile phones

under the feature of operating system.

 Among 54 respondents 98.1% of people use their phones

for almost 3 years.

5.2 DISCUSSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

(5.2.1) DISCUSSIONS
An attempt has been made to analyse the consumer purchasing
frequency for the mobile phones.
The study was to determine factors that influence consumer buying
behavior and their preferences in mobile phones in Bhopal city. The
factors that had were found to have greatest influence on buying
perception were memory capacity, brand reputation, variety of
applications and durability of the brand. It was also noted that among
the needs that influenced brand usage and perception, communicating
and staying connected with others, and networking with others through
social and professional sites were most influential.

(5.2.2) SUGGESTIONS
Based on the findings of the study, the following recommendations are
given to manufactures and marketers of Smartphone.
• From the study it is found that the four key factors which
influence the usage and purchase decision of smartphone are
product features, price, peer groups and brand image. So the
manufacturers and marketers can focus on these factors when
they
design and promote the product.

• From the study it is found that customers are more interested

in product features like processing speed, camera and battery
life so the manufactures can concentrate more on it while
designing smartphone.

• The smartphone manufacture can offer device with good

processing speed because the customer has more concerned
towards the speed of the device.

• Smartphone companies can concentrate more on battery

issues this is a major problem faced by respondent in
smartphone.

• The period of warranty and guaranty of smartphone can be

increased to make the customer to trust the smartphone and
buy it.

• As peer group is an important factor in purchase decision of

 smart phone, ‘word of mouth’ is a best way to promote
smartphone. Also, most of the smartphone users get
reference through friends and family.

• The smartphone manufactures can reduce the build in

application storage space because the customers are
interested more to have a personalized app.

• As price of the smart phone play a vital role in purchase

decision, smartphone marketers can increase the brand
loyalty among smartphone users by offering discounts if
they buy their brand second time.

• The manufactures can offer different kinds of smartphone

for different group of target customers say youth, business
professionals and housewife.

• The companies can target more on the youth population as

they are the one who uses Smartphone the most.

5.3 CONCLUSIONS
The overall results proved that the respondents have perceived
smartphone in a positive manner. The results can be used by
Smartphone manufactures and marketers to know the needs of their
target customer and design the product and formulate marketing
strategies accordingly. The study shows that the product features like
camera, battery life, processing speed are the most important factors in
purchase decision. Further Product feature, price, peer group and brand
image are the key influencing factors to buy the smartphone. Though
the price of smartphone is high the customers are ready to pay and
afford it for their social need. From this study it is clear that the
Smartphone has become an essential part of life and it made life easier.
Thus, there is ample opportunity and scope for Smartphone brands to
get a larger pie in market share as long as they are to innovate in the
industry.

In total, it is found that Technical Features are most considered

attributes of mobile phone followed by Looks, Image & Resource,
Entertainment, Basic Attributes, Storage, Display, Way Entertainment,
User Friendly and Weight. Technical attributes includes
Internet/GPRS, Huge Memory, Sending & receiving e-mail, Strong
battery back-up, Operating System, Video-calling Facility and Multi-
Window. Looks encompasses Shape, Size, Colour, Touch-Screen,
Screen size and Social Media Application. Image with Resource
involves Dual Sim, Wi-fi and Brand Image. Entertainment attributes
incorporates Bluetooth, MP 3 Player and Playing Games. Basic
Attributes includes Communication and Design & Appearance.
Storage & Display attributes contains Video-recorder, Sophisticated
and Good audio-video quality. Way Entertainment attributes embraces
Camera and FM-Radio. User friendly attributes includes Key Pad and
as a modem.

From the findings, it can be concluded that most of the aspects on focus
had influence on respondents’ perception on brand. However, among
other factors, complementing respondents’ lifestyle and
recommendation by seller had comparatively low affirmation. This
implies that the recommendation by seller has little impact in
influencing customers’ perception on brand. A look at the needs that
influence usage and perception, it was found out that respondents’
agreed to most aspects. However, the following needs attracted low
level of affirmation: to fit in social circles, to influence non users to
acquire smart phones and no need to work overtime and during
weekends. This reveals that any change to the above aspects will have
limited impact on the brand perception on brand.
A look at the relationship between brand perception and brand
performance revealed that there was a moderate relationship. A look at
correlation between variables revealed that the relationship between
experience, opinion and quality was a good one. It is important to note
that price had a weak relationship between price and other variables.
This reveals that any change on price will have limited influence on
brand performance.

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http://ictactjournals.in/paper/IJMS_Vol4_Iss3_Paper2_788_792.pdf

http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-
jbm/papers/Conf.15010/Volume%201/1.%2001-10.pdf

ANNEXURE

Gender
Male
Female
Age
0-20
21-40
41-60
61-80
Occupation
Student
Professional
House maker
Are you aware of different mobile phones
Yes
No
Do you have a mobile phone?
Yes
No
For which purpose do you use your mobile phone the most?
Entertainment
Study
Work
Which company do you like the most?
Apple
Samsung
Xiaomi
Oppo
Vivo
Oneplus
Which company mobile phone do you have?
Apple
Samsung
Xiaomi
Oppo
Vivo
Oneplus
What features do you see while buying a phone?
Camera
Space
Screen size
Operating system
For how many years you use your phone?
1 year
2 years
3 years
More than 3 years