REVATHY RAJASEKARAN et al.

: CONSUMERS PERCEPTION AND PREFERENCE TOWARDS SMARTPHONE

DOI: 10.21917/ijms.2018.0106

CONSUMERS PERCEPTION AND PREFERENCE TOWARDS SMARTPHONE

Revathy Rajasekaran, S. Cindhana and C. Anandha Priya
Department of Management Studies, V.V. Vanniaperumal College for Women, India

Abstract
Smartphone usage has proliferated in recent years. Nowadays people 2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
seem to become dependent towards Smartphone due to its convenience,
great camera features, easy applications installations, and more The various literature related to the consumer attitude towards
importantly, it can do most of the computer functions on the go. In this smartphone were studied for this study some of them are,
technology and competitive era, this study aims to explore the key
factors which motivate consumers to purchase and use Smart Phones. Osman et al. [1] concluded that the selling price is not the most
Further, the reason behind usage of smart phone is found and to important factor that affects smartphone purchasing decision,
identify the customer attitude towards smart phone and finally to know whereas the consumers perceive other factors such as design,
the customer’s satisfaction level towards smart phones. This study is connectivity, and performance to be more important than the
more essential for Smartphone companies as their sales and profit will price.
be depend upon on customer perception. Overall this study will
Kaushal and Kumar [3] inferred that the consumers are using
facilitate the improvement of Smartphone industry in the view of
customer perception and their attitude. or want to purchase Smartphone because their social circle is
using it and hence they are also motivated and inspired to use
Smart phone.
Keywords:
Nagarkoti [2] found that customers pay huge money in smart
Smartphone, Consumer Perception, Marketing Strategy
phones for latest technology and for brands.
Mohan [5] conducted a survey and his findings were
1. INTRODUCTION Smartphone is just not only the want of customer but a need.
Moreover, consumer perceives brand image while purchasing
In this global era, technology has become an integral part in
smartphone and few consumers in Indian market are brand loyal.
our lives. The saying ‘world is at your fingertips’ has become
predominant nowadays. From desktop to laptops, technology has Liao [4] concluded that when buying a smartphone, a
further minimized to smartphones. consumer sees the brand image more than other factor such as
design, integration of hardware and software, file transfer and
Smartphone usage has proliferated in recent years. Some areas
display, price of additional, purchase, price of the phone and
of the world have enjoyed rapid deployment and high penetration
camera.
of mobile telephony [1]. 70% of the world’s population own at
least one Smartphone. In today’s society, people are becoming Rani and Sharma [6] found that the maximum users purchased
more and more rely on technology especially when the Smartphone for work related purpose. The price, performance,
communicating with others. design and quality factors play an important role for smartphone
purchase.
Smartphone industry has been booming since 1983. Since
then, there have been many large mobile phone companies Malviya et al. [7] found that people in Indore are buying
stepping their foot into the industry. Western Smartphone makers, Smartphones irrespective of its prices. He also added that features
like Apple and Google, are increasingly looking east for growth, like brand, social image, technology and durability are playing
giving countries like India significant influence over the sorts of major role in buying decisions of consumers in Indore.
features they build into their phones.
India has the fastest-growing smartphone market in the world, 3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
accounting for 27.5 million devices sold in the second quarter of
2016, smartphone shipments in India grew 23 per cent annually The main objectives of the study are:
in the third quarter of 2016 as compared to the global Smartphone • To explore the key factors which motivate consumers to
market which grew at five percent, up according to IDC. purchase and use Smart Phones
Everybody is looking at India as a huge landing ground for their • To find the reason behind usage of smart phone.
innovation and also as a next big step in that part of the world.
• To identify the customer attitude towards smart phone.
Thus, Smartphone market in India has huge competition. Each
• To know the customer satisfaction level of the smart phones.
and every brand offers various features and is targeting to
different needs of the customer therefore it is important to study
the perception of Smartphone user. 4. DATA AND METHODOLOGY
This research is carried to understand the various factors
A Research design provides a scientific framework for
which influence the purchase intension of the consumer and also
conducting research investigation. The study is exploratory in
helps to understand the mindset of different consumers while
nature. The primary data was collected from the users of
buying a smart phone.
Smartphone who were the students, businessmen, house wife and

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employee of different age group, background and income level. Camera Resolution 4.58 4
Primary data was collected through structured questionnaire. The
Colour and Design 4.15 8
secondary data was collected from various research publications,
journal and internet. Processing Speed 4.75 1
The study was conducted with a sample size of 307 From Table.1, it is understood that processing speed, battery
Smartphone users in Virudhunagar. The technique used to life, storage capacity, camera resolution and operating system are
identify the respondent is convenient sampling. considered most important features in choosing the smart phone.
A structured questionnaire was framed covering the Generation, HD display and color and design are considered less
demographic details of the respondents, smartphone usage pattern important while purchasing smartphone.
and purpose, smartphone features and factors influencing
5.2 FACTORS INFLUENCING THE PURCHASE OF
smartphone purchase decision. 25 statements related to purchase
decision of smartphone were identified and the respondents were
SMARTPHONE
asked to rate in Likert 5-point scale. The Table.2 shows the factors influencing the purchase of
The survey responses were loaded in the SPSS Package 20. smartphone. The factors including quality of product, brand
For analyzing the data Chi-square, Factor analysis, Correlation, image, product feature and price are considered more influential
Garrett’s ranking, Regression and Anova were used. The test was factor for purchasing the smartphone while promotion and offer
conducted on 5% level of significance. and family and friends suggestion are considered less influential
while purchasing smartphone.
4.1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Table.2. Weighted average for factors influencing the purchase
• Research Design: Survey Research
of smartphone
• Sampling Frame: Smartphone users of different age group
and different profession in Virudhunagar region. Factors Mean Square Rank
• Sampling Method: Convenience Sampling Brand Image 4.54 2
• Sampling Size: 307 respondents
Price 4.24 4
• Nature of Data: Primary data as well as secondary data were
collected from journals, websites, book, and magazine and Quality of Product 4.7 1
from previous research related to smartphone Promotion and Offers 3.58 6
• Method of Primary - Data Collection: Questionnaire Family and friends suggestion 3.96 5
• Type of Questionnaire: Structured questionnaire with
Product Features 4.39 3
suitable scaling.
• Type of Questions: Closed ended, Likert scale, Ranking 5.3 THE MOST USED MOBILE APPLICATION
questions and multiple-choice questions.
• Statistical tools used: factor analysis, correlation, regression, The Table.3 shows the Garrett’s ranking for most used mobile
Chi – square, Garrett’s ranking analysis application by customers. Social application is the most used
application by respondent followed by education app. The third,
• Software Used: IBM SPSS Statistics 20 Package
fourth, fifth most used application is shopping app, news
• Period of Study: December 2017 to January 2018 application and banking application respectively. The least used
• Area of study: Virudhunagar. apps are travel application and job app.

5. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Table.3. Garrett’s ranking for most used application by
customers
The results obtained from the analysis of the data by using the Apps Total score Average score Rank
various statistical tools are discussed below.
Shopping app 16118 52.50 3
5.1 PREFERENCE TOWARDS SMARTPHONE Job app 12930 42.12 7
FEATURE Educational app 16125 52.52 2
Table.1. Weighted average on preference towards Smartphone Travel app 13689 44.59 6
feature Social app 18453 60.10 1
Banking app 13963 45.48 5
Feature Mean square Rank
News app 15343 49.98 4
Operating System 4.57 5
Storage Capacity (Memory) 4.61 3 5.4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND THE
HD Display 4.38 7 SMARTPHONE VARIABLES
Generation (2G/3G/4G) 4.54 6 In Table.4 seven smartphone variables say smartphone brand,
Battery life 4.74 2 price, reason of buying a smartphone, frequency of change in new

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smartphone, level of switching between brand, per day usage of relationship between customers age and reason of buying a
smartphone and influence group in buying smartphone are smartphone, frequency of change in new smartphone, level of
identified in order to find out their degree of relationship with age switching between brand, per day usage of smartphone and
of customers. The findings reveal that there is a significant influence group in buying smartphone.

Table.4. Relationship between age and the Smartphone variables

Age (in years) Chi-square

Smartphone Variable Degree of Calculated Asymp.
<20 20-30 30-40 40-50 >50 Significance status
Freedom value sign
Apple 5 11 6 6 3
Sony 1 9 1 2 0
Samsung 11 39 23 9 12
Moto 3 10 3 5 2
Lenovo 4 13 4 9 1
Brand 36 42.930 .198 Not Significant
Lava 5 10 2 1 1
Micromax 5 7 2 4 1
Intex 1 4 0 4 0
Microsoft 2 2 2 2 3
Others 8 32 6 7 4
< 6,000 6 15 8 13 2
6,000-12,000 19 74 24 18 16
Price 12,000-18,000 7 22 8 10 4 16 14.791 .540 Not Significant
18,000-24,000 5 12 10 3 2
> 24,000 8 14 7 5 3
Prestige 5 4 6 1 0
Reason Personal need 27 117 38 42 27 8 28.236 .000 Significant
Social need 13 16 5 6 0
1 year 4 22 3 2 1
Change 1-2 years 17 42 13 16 2
12 21.238 .047 Significant
2-3 years 13 35 16 12 12
> 3 year 11 38 17 19 12
Low 7 23 12 13 8
Level in Moderate 24 70 27 29 16
3 21.958 .000 Significant
switching High 11 36 8 6 2
Extremely high 3 8 2 1 1
Family 10 62 23 28 21
Influence Friends 30 62 20 19 6
12 31.267 .002 Significant
Peer groups 4 10 2 1 0
Neighbors 1 3 4 1 0
< 2 hours 11 26 18 17 17
Per day 2 – 5 hours 15 63 19 15 4
usage 12 30.024 .003 Significant
5– 8 hours 8 24 8 8 4
> 8 hours 11 24 4 9 2

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5.5 FACTOR ANALYSIS I compare prices of other smart phone

.014 .337 .008 .041
brands before I choose one.
In this study, the researcher identified 25 statements to study
the key factors which influencing the purchase behavior of I will ask the opinion from my friends
.016 .070 .796 .057
smartphone. From the statements 4 key factors that motivate when buying a smart phone.
consumers for purchasing the smart phones and its usage are I like to buy smart phone which makes
.104 .071 .762 .138
recognized they are product feature, price, peer group and brand good impressions on my friends.
image. My friends/family members influence me
.281 .061 .689 .004
to buy smart phone.
Table.5. KMO and Bartlett's Test
I will buy my favorite smart phone brand,
.070 .006 .521 .093
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling regardless of the price.
.605
Adequacy. I prefer to buy an international recognized
.024 .115 .118 .607
Approx. Chi-Square 948.306 smart phone.
Bartlett's Test of I will consider the reputation of smart
Df 300 .053 .095 .075 .576
Sphericity phone brand before purchasing it.
Sig. .000
Brand image of smart phone increase my
It is observed from the Table.5 by applying Kaiser-Meyer- .121 .039 .078 .559
status in the society.
Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy of 0.605 indicated
that patterns of correlations are compact and that factor analysis Smart phone has high quality camera. .166 .086 .152 .502
should yield reliable factors. Bartlett’s test yield significance (p- It is important that my friends like the
.212 .396 .152 .500
value) of 0.000 indicating that correlation between variables is brand of smart phone I am using.
sufficient for factor analysis. Price is an important factor when
.192 .017 .265 .439
purchasing smart phone.
Table.6. Rotated Component Matrix
The Table.6 shows the rotated factor loading for 25 variables
Component influencing purchase decision of Smartphone. From the Table.6 it
Variables is clear that the 25 variables have been converted to 4 factors
1 2 3 4
namely product feature, price, peer group influence and brand
Smart phone has more application than image.
.754 .171 .069 .171
basic hand phones.
I will consider the brand image when Table.7. Selected Statement
.671 .179 .130 .147
buying a smart phone with higher price.
Smart phone provides high quality of Factor
.634 .283 -.20 .030 Factors Selected Statement (Variable)
games. Loading
Smart phone has high end operating Product Smart phone has more application
.614 .087 .182 .161 .754
system. Feature than basic hand phones.
Smart phone internet accessibility is I will buy smart phone during price
.524 .235 .003 .219 Price .713
speedier than basic hand phone. offer Period.
Smart phone brand name is my priority Peer I will ask the opinion from my
.488 .172 .081 .330 .796
while making a purchase decision. Group friends when buying a smart phone.
If I want to be like someone. I try to buy Brand I prefer to buy an international
.456 .056 .142 .245 .607
the same smart phone that they buy. Image recognized smart phone.
I like smart phone as the design look
.291 .268 .087 .038 From the Table.7, the following are the most important
stylish.
factors:
My friend family member thinks that we
.192 .093 .062 .097 • The variable ‘Smart phone has more application than basic
should all use smart phones.
hand phones’ comes under factor Product Features is found
I will only buy smart phone during price to be the most important variable.
.036 .713 .053 .052
offer period.
• The variable ‘I will only buy smart phone during price offer
I buy smart phone because they are worth period’ comes under factor Price has highest score.
.190 .690 .052 .044
of their price and usage quality. • The variable ‘I will ask the opinion from my friends when
I am willing to buy Smart phone even buying a smart phone’ under peer group influence is the third
.017 .603 .159 .024
though the price is higher. important factor for choosing a smartphone.
I think that using smart phone is expensive • The variable ‘I prefer to buy an international recognized
.129 .521 .092 .173
overall. smart phone’ comes under factor brand image is highly
The cheapness of some smart phone brand loaded.
.135 .397 .353 .065
suggests me that they are low quality.

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6. RECOMMENDATIONS Smartphone manufactures and marketers to know the needs of

their target customer and design the product and formulate
Based on the findings of the study, the following marketing strategies accordingly. The study shows that the
recommendations are given to manufactures and marketers of product features like camera, battery life, processing speed are the
Smartphone. most important factors in purchase decision. Further Product
feature, price, peer group and brand image are the key influencing
• From the study it is found that the four key factors which
factors to buy the smartphone. Though the price of smartphone is
influence the usage and purchase decision of smartphone are
high the customers are ready to pay and afford it for their social
product features, price, peer groups and brand image. So the
need. From this study it is clear that the Smartphone has become
manufacturers and marketers can focus on these factors
an essential part of life and it made life easier. Thus, there is ample
when they design and promote the product.
opportunity and scope for Smartphone brands to get a larger pie
• From the study it is found that customers are more interested in market share as long as they are to innovate in the industry.
in product features like processing speed, camera and battery
life so the manufactures can concentrate more on it while
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The overall results proved that the respondents have perceived
smartphone in a positive manner. The results can be used by

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