Marketing Research
Final Project Report
Submitted by
Group 7
Paras Jain (190103092)
Rashi Rai (190103112)
Rishabh Govil (190103113)
Shivaditya Rathi (190103134)
Siddharth Gupta (190103141)
Siya Raizada (190103145)
1
Table of Contents
S. No. Topic Page No.
List of Figures and Tables 2
1. Background 3-4
2. Problem Definition 4-5
3. Approach to the Problem 5
4. Research Design 5
5. Method of Fieldwork/ Data Collection 6
6. Data Analysis and Interpretation 7-9
7. Findings 10-13
8. Managerial Implications 13
9. Recommendations 14
10 Exhibits and References 15-17
List of Figures
Fig No. Fig Name Page No.
Fig 1 Regression 7
Fig 2 Regression 8
Fig 3 T-test 9
Fig 4 Gender Response 10
Fig 5 Age Group Response 10
Fig 6 Monthly Income Response 10
Fig 7 Last Phone Response 10
Fig 8 Current Phone Response 10
Fig 9 Price Range Response 11
Fig 10 Buying Factors Response 12
Fig 11 Superseding Perception Response 12
Fig 12 Independent Purchase Response 12
List of Tables
Table No. Table Name Page No.
Table 1 Samsung brand perception 11
2
Background
Samsung is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile phones and smartphones, started with
the original Samsung Solstice, and later, the popularity of its Samsung Galaxy line of devices.
It has also developed 5G capable smartphones through the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy Note 10
and foldable phones through the Galaxy Fold. While many other handset makers focused on
one or two operating systems, Samsung for a time used several of them: Symbian, Windows
Phone, Linux-based LiMo, and Samsung's proprietary Touch Wiz and Bada. By 2013 Samsung
had dropped all operating systems except Android and Windows Phone. That year Samsung
released at least 43 Android phones or tablets and two Windows Phones. Samsung became the
world's largest cell phone maker in 2012, with sales of 95 million smartphones in the first
quarter. In 2019, Samsung announced that it had ended the production of mobile phones in
China due to lack of Chinese demand. As of 2019, Samsung employs over 200,000 employees
in the Hanoi-area of Vietnam to produce Smartphones, while off sourcing some manufacturing
to China and manufacturing significant portions of its phones in India.
Samsung is among the leading smartphones makers in the world and was known for its low-
cost products but now launches smartphones for all segments varying from low to premium
segment with smartphones as low as Rs 15,000 to as high as above Rs 60,000.
Positioning comes how the company decides the customer segments, category it wants to target
and how successful are they in this venture.
Samsung’s target market
1. Age group: 22 – 55
2. Gender: Male and Female
3. Income: Targeting low middle class to high-income individuals
Geographic:
Samsung targets both the rural areas as it provides a large base to expand in, as well as the
urban sector. Samsung launched its “Samsung Guru” for customers of rural areas as well as
“Galaxy series” for urban areas. Samsung has a deep product mix and has products which cater
to different customer segments and classes.
3
Demographic:
The demographic segmentation lies between 22-55 age group and from lower middle class to
upper middle class. Samsung offers different products starting from as low as Rs 1500 and as
high as Rs 80,000.
Hence, Samsung positioned itself as a smartphone which makes the best quality products and
came up with ideas to be more customer focused and creative to establish a strong brand image.
Samsung doesn’t use a defined tagline or slogan but uses unique tagline for each product and
try to promote and position mobile phones/ note, tabs differently.
Problem Definition
The smartphone industry has recently seen a decline of 0.4% as compared to the last year and
the reason behind this is that more and more customers are now aiming for value for money
smartphones which has led to many premium and upper segments targeted companies see a
dive in sale numbers.
Samsung sold around 79 million phones securing a market share of 20.4% in the 2019 Q3
which has increased from 18.9% since the 2018 Q3, followed by Huawei, Apple, Xiaomi and
others worldwide but has seen a dive in India and is now on the third position in terms of market
share behind Xiaomi and Vivo. (exhibit 1)
Business Problem:
Samsung loses its smartphone market share in India and drops to no. 3
Research Problem:
1. Is the customer’s loyalty switching to other Chinese OEMS like Xiaomi, Oppo, etc.?
2. What’s the customer’s perception about Samsung?
3. Is poor price-to-features perception leading to drop in market share?
4
There has been significant market share percentage change for Xiaomi, Vivo with Vivo
climbing up the ladder much faster than Samsung. (exhibit 2)
Vivo increased its online presence while Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo increased their offline sales
points. Last year Samsung launched M and A series to fight off the Chinese OEMs but maybe
a more competitive pricing needed to be done as Xiaomi, Vivo still managed to remain ahead.
While global smartphone sales have significantly slowed down, the Indian market is still
showing increasing growth potential, which can be attractive to lure smartphone companies
across the world to launch more models of phones in the country.
Approach to the Problem
With the losing market share, we want to through our project analyse the intentions behind a
smartphone purchase of a consumer.
The analysis used in this report is based on primary research data collected using a survey
method. The survey uses respondents using different smartphones of a varied age group and
occupation. Such factors in the survey helps analyse the state of mind behind a purchase, for
example, a 20-year-old isn’t trusted with an expensive phone and doesn’t require a featured
phone and so his/ her purchase depends on his age group.
The survey was anonymous and was designed in order to fulfil research smartphone key issues
like usage, improvements, satisfaction level factors. The report is based on primary survey data
with initial conduct of secondary research and identifying the key independent variables behind
the purchasing intention and a pilot tested questionnaire.
Dependant Variable: Purchasing Intention
Independent Variable: Brand Loyalty, Customer Perception, Value for money
Research Design
The research questionnaire is based on understanding the user's smartphone purchase
behaviour and the user's brand perception about Samsung smartphones. The research was done
in 3 parts to capture the essence of the independent variables like brand loyalty, customer
perception, and value for money in the mind of the consumers and potential customers.
5
Method of Fieldwork/ Data Collection
The fieldwork method requires collection of primary data and so research questionnaire was
designed to collect information on a first-hand basis.
1. Brand Loyalty
Variable Type Construct
Objective How the customers loyal to competitor brands perceive Samsung
smartphones and vice versa
Hypothesis Customer loyalty for competitor brand is higher compared to that
for Samsung
2. Customer perception
Variable Type Construct
Objective To find willingness of a potential customer to buy and existing
customers retention rate
Hypothesis Customer perception about other brands is higher as compared to
Samsung
3. Value for money
Variable Type Construct
Objective Among Samsung and its competitors, whose products provide
better value for money
Hypothesis There is a significant relationship between value for money and
purchasing intention
Data was collected to judge a customer’s mind about his existing smartphone, be it Samsung
or a non-Samsung phone. We wanted to know what do the customers think while buying a
smartphone, and so based on the factors we wanted to know if there is a purchasing intention
for the Samsung phone in the mind of the customers.
6
Data Analysis and Interpretation
1. Regression
Figure 1 Regression
Dependant variable: willing_to_repurchase_Samsung
Independent variables: trust_Samsung, satisfaction_Samsung
R2 = 0.262 which is a low value which means that the independent variables don’t explain all
the variability of the response data and the dependence on the dependant variable.
The equation of the regression line is given from the last table in Figure 1.
For satisfaction factor, the p value > significance level (0.05) indicating insufficient evidence
and data to support the hypothesis and so data is less to support that satisfaction plays a key
role in repurchase decision.
For trust factor, the p value > significance level (0.05) indicating insufficient evidence and data
to support the hypothesis and so data is less to support that trust plays a key role in repurchase
decision.
The brand loyalty is decided by the trust and satisfaction parameters and so as per the regression
line the parameters do have a significant role, but the hypothesis can’t be supported fully due
to sampling error or anomaly error.
7
2. Regression
Figure 2 Regression
Dependant variable: willing_to_repurchase_Samsung
Independent variables: Samsung_phone_as_per_requirement,
Samsung_supersedes_other_phones
R2 = 0.184 which is a low value which means that the independent variables don’t explain all
the variability of the response data and the dependence on the dependant variable, and many
other factors come into play.
The equation of the regression line is given from the last table in Figure 1.
For the phone fulfilling the requirement parameter, the p value > significance level (0.05)
indicating insufficient evidence and data to support the hypothesis and so data is less to support
that phone fulfilling the requirement parameter plays a key role in repurchase decision.
For the Samsung phone superseding other phones parameter, the p value > significance level
(0.05) indicating insufficient evidence and data to support the hypothesis and so data is less to
support that the parameter plays a key role in repurchase decision.
Till now, we have established the fact that the variables we had taken as independent variables
have a significant relationship, but we don’t have evidence to prove because of a smaller sample
data or anomalies in the data.
8
3. T-test
Figure 3 T-test
Next, we want to check the relationship between price range and current smartphone because
Xiaomi is fighting to keep Samsung off because of its price sensitive phones.
Since F value (25.34) > 0.05 we would use the equal variances assumed row for analysis. Since
the p value (0.12) < 0.05, there is a significant difference between Samsung price and Xiaomi
price which is the key reason for Xiaomi to have established a significant position and has
eaten up Samsung’s share.
Similarly, for Oppo, Vivo, Samsung has not been able to fight these Chinese OEMs because
of their price sensitive phones in the market.
In conclusion after running the tests by comparing the major key elements while buying a
smartphone like satisfaction, trust, fulfilment of requirements, perception of a better phone than
others, all impact the intention to buy a smartphone.
Moreover, we saw that the rising market share holder Xiaomi has only been able to do this
because of the price sensitive phones and the increasing smartphone penetration in the country.
Next, lets analyse the primary data in a graphical format and the corresponding findings.
9
Findings
The first set of questions aimed at identifying the background of the respondent, age, gender,
monthly income which majorly affect a consumer’s choice.
Fig 4 Gender response Fig 5 Age Group Response
Fig 6 Monthly Income Response
The next question determined what the respondents last and current smartphone and the price
range the smartphone belonged to and we found that Samsung owned the third largest chunk
behind Apple and Xiaomi in the past but has lost to OnePlus too in terms of popularity, and
usage.
Fig 7 Last Phone Response Fig 8 Current Phone Response
10
Fig 9 Price Range Response
The major insight got from the price range factor was that the consumers mostly choose their
smartphone in the 10-20k range. Samsung not significantly present in this price bracket has
made it lose to Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo.
Next is the brand perception about Samsung and so based on the research questions asking
about rating the satisfaction level and trust in the brand, we received the following data.
Table 1. Samsung brand perception
Perception Rating Percentage
1 11.1%
Satisfaction level 2 11.1%
3 11.1%
4 66.7%
5 0%
1 0%
Trust factor 2 11.1%
3 22.2%
4 66.7%
5 0%
Next, insights for knowing how a Samsung consumer thinks of his phone about superseding
other phones. This helped to know how successful Samsung has bounded its customers with
its product and whether Samsung has been able to strongly position its products.
11
Fig 10 Buying Factors Response
Fig 11 Superseding Perception Response
Fig 12 Independent Purchase Response
12
According to the questionnaire, out of the current Samsung users, 55.6% of the consumers are
willing to repurchase Samsung and with 33.3% in the grey area. This shows that a Samsung
user is loyal to the brand.
The problem lies with not able to get new consumers because the market has shifted to Xiaomi,
Oppo, Vivo because of price sensitive smartphones and absence of Samsung in the price
category. This is the major reason that Samsung has lost its market share to the Chinese OEMs.
Managerial Implications
The implications derived from the insights from the primary data for Samsung are
1. Samsung may continue to lose market share as more and more companies are planning to
enter India.
2. Due to the rising internet penetration among the age category of 20-25 when parents
usually prefer the child to buy a not so expensive phone, that’s where Xiaomi, Oppo,
Vivo have targeted with their low pricing value for money smartphones, leading to
entire market shifting to more value for money smartphones.
3. OnePlus being a tough competitor being in the same or lower price category as
Samsung has been able to rope more customers than Samsung because of better
models, better features in the right price and OnePlus has been able to deliver the
best of features like iPhone in less price and so has eaten a very significant amount
from Samsung’s market share.
4. Apple on the higher price range compared to Samsung hasn’t had much effect due
to a large loyal customer base. Existing consumers of Apple keep buying the
updated launches by the company and so rarely shift to Samsung or for that matter
any other smartphone company.
13
Recommendations
1. Samsung should launch more price sensitive smartphones under the series name as
they did with Galaxy S10 by launching more than 5 variants of lesser price. The
variants need to be more price sensitive such that the customer thinks he/ she is
buying the latest model though a little less featured but at a very less price. This is
the only way Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo can be tackled.
2. On studying the advertisements of Samsung, we would recommend that the
company for some of its smartphones didn’t focus the ad campaign more on the
features and so the customer didn’t get the essence of the product and so the interest
wasn’t invoked. (exhibit)
3. The company spends a very large amount on marketing (exhibit 3), even more than
the biggest of the companies in the world like P&G which reduces the ROS on the
products and so leads to lower profits and so may lead to lower reinvestment.
4. Sticking to the innovation that Samsung has always stood for like the eye tracking
and hand movement detection over the phone need to be displayed more with
Samsung less copying or innovating like the other companies. Samsung’s unique
features were the ones the market couldn’t resist buying a Samsung (exhibit 4).
14
Exhibits
Exhibit 1
Mobile Brand Smartphone Market Share Q4 2019 Smartphone Market Share Q3 2019 % Change
Xiaomi 27% 26% 1%
Samsung 19% 20% -1%
Vivo 21% 17% 4%
Oppo 12% 8% 4%
Realme 8% 16% -8%
Others 13% 13% 0%
Exhibit 2
15
Exhibit 3
Exhibit 4
16
References
1. https://www.academia.edu/3983376/Smartphone_Market_Research_Report
2. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212567116301216
3. https://www.sammobile.com/2018/12/04/samsung-electronics-worlds-largest-
advertiser/
4. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/samsung-is-
losing-to-chinese-tech-giants-in-india-can-it-bounce-
back/articleshow/68787457.cms?from=mdr
5. https://www.androidauthority.com/samsung-india-1053089/
6. https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/samsung-logs-lowest-market-
share-in-4-years-loses-no-2-slot-to-chinas-vivo/1835179/
7. https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2020/01/27/samsung-loses-its-2-spot-in-indias-
smartphone-market-to-vivo/
17
