“Attributes consumers look while purchasing mobile online”

A Research Project report

Submitted to

Balaji Institute of Telecom and Management, Pune

Sri Balaji Society

On successful completion of the 1ST YEAR in the subject of

“Research Paper Writing”

Submitted By:

Pratishta Bhardwaj

Under the Guidance of:

Professor Rajkiran Pund

Date:
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE
I declare that the Research Paper Report entitled “Attributes consumers look while purchasing
mobile online” is submitted by me is based on original research conducted by me during the
period from __/__/____ to __/__/____ under the guidance of Professor Rajkiran Pund and I
further declare that there is no falsification of data/ material to the best of my knowledge.
I further declare that the material obtained from sources has been duly acknowledged in the
report.

Date:

Place:

Pratishta Bhardwaj
TM1918208
 CERTIFICATE OF THE GUIDE
I certify that the work incorporated in the Research Report titled, “Attributes consumers look
while purchasing mobile online” submitted by Ms. Pratishta Bhardwaj is her original work
which was carried out by the candidate under my supervision and guidance. I further certify
that the above work was duly approved by me and this work is the result of candidate’s
independent study and effort. Such material has been obtained from other sources has been
duly acknowledged in the thesis.

Date: (Signature of Faculty Mentor)

Place: (Signature of Research Guide)

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my faculty mentor research guide, Professor
Rajkiran Pund for his never-ending encouragement and support. I would like to extend my
sincere appreciation to Dr. Suresh Abhyankar and Dr. Rashmi Mahajan for sharing their wisdom
and experience during research work. My sincere thanks to Prof. Quresh Moochhala for his
unconditional, proactive support and timely permissions for research work. Finally, I thank God
for making this journey an enriching experience for me.

Date
Place: Delhi (Signature of candidate)
 INDEX

TOPIC PAGE NO
Title page
Declaration by the candidate
Certificate of the mentor
Acknowledgement
Index
List of tables
List of Figures
List of Abbreviation
1 Abstract
2 Introduction
3 Objective
4 Hypothesis
5 Literature Review
6 Research Methodology
7 Data analysis, Interpretation
and Hypothesis Testing
8 Findings
9 Recommendation/
Suggestions
10 Limitations
11 Conclusion
12 Reference
13 Appendix A
14 Appendix B: Questionnaire
for personal interview
 LIST OF TABLES

Name Content Page No.

Table 1 Reliability Scale
Table 2 Demographic Profiles of
respondents
Table 3 Descriptive Statistics
Table 4 Cross tabulation
Table 5 Chi square test
Table 6 Multiple linear regression
Table 7 Anova
Table 8 Regression Coefficient
Table 9 Summary of hypothesis
 LIST OF FIGURES
Name Content Page No.
Figure 1
 ABSTRACT
The behavior of consumer’s toward smartphone is increasing as a focus of brand awareness
and marketing research. In particular, consumer’s behavior in smart phone industry, from
adoption, motivation to post usage behavior has become a focus of research. In recent years,
the adoption of mobile phones has been exceptionally quick in India, and the behavior of
consumers in choosing mobile phones and making purchase decisions has been varying with
times. A smartphone not only fulfils the task of calling and receiving calls but also serves various
other needs of users like internet and social connectivity, multimedia, clicking selfies, health
traits measurement etc. The results of the research confirm that regulatory focus has an
influence on consumer behavior towards smartphone purchase decision by affecting their
perception, motivation and lifestyle. Present study is conducted to identify and analyze by
underlying the external and internal factors which are influencing a consumer in purchasing a
smartphone in highly competitive market. This research also explores through quantitative
analysis of some key factors which also affect consumer’s attitudes and behaviors towards
smartphone purchase. A large number of variables affect the buying behavior of smartphone
buyers. These attributes influence the buying behavior. The purpose of this research is to
discover the attributes that the consumer looks at when purchasing mobile phones online.
Both primary and secondary data are explored, moreover six important factors i.e. price, online
reviews, product features, brand name, durability and after sales services were the most
considerable ones.
To bring this research in conclusion, the researcher has done convenience sampling method,
well-structured questionnaire was prepared and responses were collected from the people. The
collected data was analyzed using cross tabulation, chi square test, multiple regression.
 INTRODUCTION
In the current economic scenario, with the growth of online commercial retail transactions, the
recent literature has highlighted the distributed intelligence emerging from all human and
technological agents interacting on the internet. In recent decades, the retail sector has
undergone a huge digital transformation, such as the integration of new digital technologies,
digital business models, including platform-based multi-sided market places, access to
information, a global vision, and changes in computation and mobile shopping. All of these
digital transformations have led to changes in people’s purchase behavior and, consequently,
that of the consumer. With the new digital technologies, the consumer’s decision-making
process is described as a continuous and interactive activity, requiring retailers to adopt a more
holistic mentality and concentrate on influencing the process rather than concentrating
exclusively on the result of the consumer’s decision. Traditional economic theory claims that
consumers are rational and systematically seek and analyze information in the market prior to
making a purchase. However, in traditional economic theory, it is impossible to obtain and
analyze all the information on the whole market before making a decision. In the digital
economy, time, credibility, and attention, rather than information, are scarce. Making a secure
purchase reduces cognitive dissonance, the distance between what is expected and what is
received. The greater this distance (in situations where what is “received” is worse than what is
“expected”) the more unsatisfied the consumer will be with his purchase.
Smart phone is the need of today. 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. 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. 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
The Indian mobile market is growing rapidly and thanks to the huge online discounts and
aggressive launches the brands are able to sell huge volumes. The Chinese smartphone
manufactures have over 60% market share in the Indian market while rest is taken by Samsung,
Asus, Apple and Google. Consumers of mobile phone are now not limited to the basic
communication functions, but also on functions for other mobile applications, efficiency, ease
of use and comfort. Unlike other interactive systems (e.g., desktop computing), consumer
criteria of judging benefits expected from mobile phones include factors like function
specification, aesthetics, brand image, self-feeling and user experience. These factors
altogether add influence on the overall consumer perception.
Therefore, the objective of this study was to provide a quantitative and structural assessment
of consumer perceptions of product attributes of mobile phones. A large number of variables
affect the buying decision of smartphone buyers. These factors influence and decide the buying
behavior of smartphone buyers.
 Problem Statement:
What are the attributes consumers look while purchasing mobile online?

Research design:
Primary source:
1. Questionnaire was formed to collect data from people suggesting their views on the
attributes of a mobile they prefer while purchasing it online.
2. Primary data was analyzed with the help of MS Excel and SPSS.
 OBJECTIVE
To discover the attributes consumers look while purchasing mobile online.
 HYPOTHESIS:
Hypothesis 1.1:

H0: There is no significant relationship between price and purchasing decision of consumers for
mobile
online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between price and purchasing decision of consumers for
mobile
online.
Hypothesis 1.2:
H0: There is no significant relationship between features and purchasing decision of consumers
for
mobile online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between features and purchasing decision of consumers
for
mobile online.
Hypothesis 1.3:
H0: There is no significant relationship between brand name and purchasing decision of
consumers for
mobile online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between brand name and purchasing decision of
consumers for
mobile online.
Hypothesis 1.4:
H0: There is no significant relationship between durability and purchasing decision of
consumers for
mobile online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between durability and purchasing decision of consumers
for
mobile online.
Hypothesis 1.5:
H0: There is no significant relationship between online reviews and purchasing decision of
consumers
for mobile online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between online reviews and purchasing decision of
consumers for
mobile online.

Hypothesis 1.6:
H0: There is no significant relationship between after sales service and purchasing decision of
consumers for mobile online.
H1: There is a significant relationship between after sales service and purchasing decision of
consumers
for mobile online.
 Literature Review:
The use and size of the mobile phone in the market has grown considerably in the past 40 years
since its inception. With the rapid expansion of the telecommunications industry, there is an
early innovation in technology related to mobile devices. It is a point of concern to encounter a
consumer purchasing decision process and a shadow cast over the factors that ultimately
decide consumers; choices between different mobile phones while comparing them online.
Understanding the factors that push a consumer to choose and buy a mobile phone online is
therefore a vital area to study, now this subject has been chosen to better understand. It is also
evident that global manufacturing companies still want to find out the reasons that trigger in
the minds of consumers who influence the purchasing decision. There are quite a number of
studies that are being conducted in the past on consumer perspective in buying a mobile phone
or a cellular device online. Brief synopses of those studies are listed here in below:

 Malviya and Saluja (2013) conducted a study to identify the factors that influence the
purchase decision of online smartphone users. The objective of this study was to
discover the main factors that have a dominant effect on consumer behavior while
making a decision to buy a smartphone online. The researcher took a sample of 250
respondents for the study. The researcher used chi-square, factor analysis and reliability
analysis using the SPSS statistical package for the analysis and interpretation of the data.
Research has also revealed that features such as technology, brand and social image
also plays a major role in the purchasing decisions of smartphone users.
 Karjaluoto, Karvonen (2005) studied the various factors that determine consumers;
choice to buy a new mobile device and the reasons why an existing mobile device is
replaced by a new device. They concluded that innovative services, multimedia, design,
brand and basic properties, external influence, price are the main factors that
consumers are looking for.

 Lay-Yee, Kok-Siew and Yin-Fah (2013) conducted a study to find out and investigate the
purchasing decision of the Malaysian generation Y. The researchers also wanted to
investigate the association of the purchasing decision with the brand, price,
dependence, convenience and product and society. They collected primary data from
125 respondents through a self-administered questionnaire. Their study confirms that
there is a positive association between the decision to buy smartphones and the brand,
price, dependence, convenience and product and society in the generation Y city.

 Uddin, Lopa and Oheduzzaman(2014) conducted a study to discover the latent variables
(factors) that play a leading role in the purchase decision of smartphone users. They
included 34 variables in the study and classified these variables into seven factors,
namely the physical attributes of the first factor, the pricing of the second factor, the
billing of the third factor and other operating facilities, the size and weight of the fourth
factor, recommendations of friends and colleagues of the fifth factor, advertising of the
sixth factor. This research is a study based on 160 opinions of respondents in total. They
applied factor analysis for factor extraction and descriptive statistical tools for data
analysis. They believed that the most important factor is the physical attribute, which
contributes to a 30.992% variance in the purchasing decision.

 Chua, Balkunje, Goh (2011) in theoretical research on the satisfaction of mobile

information, one must focus on the factors affecting user perceptions and real
satisfaction. Second, it identifies the technical / functional parameters of mobile phones
that influence their development. Finally, it examines how contextual factors trigger
information needs and affect satisfaction.
 Research methodology
The objective of this study is to discover the attributes consumers look while purchasing mobile
online. Both primary and secondary were collected and analyzed to test the hypothesis.
The primary data was collected through questionnaire method. It included several questions
like income of customer, what influences them the most to buy a mobile online, what attributes
do they prefer while purchasing mobile online etc.
The researcher has used SPSS software (chi square test, cross tab and multiple regression) to
test and interpret the hypothesis in our theoretical model and certain amount of MS excel has
also been used.

 Primary data method is used with a structured questionnaire.

 A total of 102 respondents were considered in this study.
 Convenience sampling was done.
 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
Reliability of scale: The table below shows the reliability of the data collected from
respondents. It shows that the data collected from mentioned sample is reliable and
respondents answered accurately because the variables are exceeding 70% which is the
standard level of acceptance for reliability. The calculations suggest that the responses given by
the respondents of the study are reliable.
TABLE 1: RELIABILITY SCALE OF THE STUDY

TABLE 2: DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILES OF RESPONDENTS

Measures Items Frequency Percentage

 Gender Male 51 50.4%
Female 50 49.5%
Age 18-25 80 79.2%
25-36 20 19.8%
45 and above 1 1%
Status Single 89 88.1%
Married 12 11.8%
Income Below INR 10K 11 10.8%
INR 10K to 30K 24 23.7%
INR 30K to 60K 29 28.7%
Above INR 60K 28 27.7%
Occupation Student 68 67.3%
Private Sector 14 11.5%
Self Employed 3 10.6%
Government Sector 3 10.6%

Shows that sample respondents are very young age. Approximately 79.2% of respondents are
from the age group of 18-25 years. 19.8% are from age group 25-36 and remaining are from 45-
above. It also says 50.4% are male and remaining is female. 88.1% are single and the remaining
are married. 67.3% are student and the remaining are employed (private sector, self-employed
and government sector)
TABLE 3: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

Descriptive statistics such as mean (5-point scale) and standard deviation (higher std deviation
indicates higher variability of customers’ perception) were used to measure the variables and
also used to describe the mean of dependent and independent variables. Table shows the
mean value of price is 3.85 and std deviation is 1.203. The mean value of features is 3.85 and
std deviation is 1.317. The mean value of brand name is 3.87 and std deviation is 1.317. The
mean value of durability is 3.88 and std deviation is 1.306. The mean value of online reviews is
3.67 and std deviation is 1.342. The mean value of after sales service is 3.90 and std deviation is
1.196. Finally, the mean value of overall factors is 2.97 and std deviation is 1.374.
TABLE 4: CROSS TABULATION

In the above table it is observed that out of 101 respondents 20 are satisfied, 18 are strongly
satisfied, 23 are neutral, 21 are dissatisfied and 19 are strongly dissatisfie d.

TABLE 5: CHI SQUARE TEST

It is observed that P value is more than 0.05. So we can say that purchasing decision of mobile
online is not dependent on gender.
TABLE 6: MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION
In order to achieve the objective of the study, multiple regressions were used to study the
effect of the independent variables to dependent variable.
The above results were obtained after setting multiple linear regressions.
TABLE 7:

In the table of ANOVA explained that overall model was significant. Since the sig. Value is less
than 0.05 so it indicates that the model is statistically significant. It is clear that all the
independent variables, that is price, features, brand name, durability, online reviews and after
sales service are connected to the dependent variable, that is, prefer mode (online or offline)
( F=3.912) (sig 0.002). Furthermore, this result is supported by the significant correlation among
the variables. The number of independent variables relative to the sample size influences R
square. The adjusted R square becomes smaller as fewer observations per independent
variable are made. It reflects the decreasing ratio of estimated coefficients to the sample size
and compensates for (over fitting) of the data as R square increases.
TABLE 8: REGRESSION COEFFICIENT:

Standardize
Unstandardized d
Coefficients Coefficients
Model B Std. Error Beta t Sig.
1. (Constant) 1.592 .141 11.266 .000
PRICE -.062 .030 .122 -2.095 .039
features -.012 .030 -.048 -.414 .680
brand name -.074 .029 .089 -2.535 .013
durability .050 .028 .193 1.777 .024
online reviews -0.32 .029 -.129 -1.100 .274
after sale service .009 .029 .031 .293 .770

It is observed that in all the variables the significant value of Price, Brand name and Durability
is less than 0.05, so we reject null hypothesis and accept alternate hypothesis that there is a
significant impact of these factors (Price, Brand name, Durability) on consumer purchasing
decision of mobile online. Among all these variables, Durability is the major variable with
standardized coefficient b= 0.193 that can satisfy the customer toward their particular service
provider. While Price is the second momentous variable with a standardized coefficient of
b=0.122. Brand name is the third momentous variable with a standardized coefficient of
b=0.089. Remaining variables such as Features(b=-2.095), Online reviews(b=-1.100) and after
sale service(0.293) are comparatively less influenced consumer purchasing decision of mobile
online.
TABLE 9: SUMMARY OF HYPOTHESIS RESULTS

HYPOTHESIS RESULT
There is no significant relationship between price Reject null hypothesis
and purchasing decision of consumers for mobile
online.

There is no significant relationship between Failed to reject null hypothesis

features and purchasing decision of consumers
for mobile online.

There is no significant relationship between Reject null hypothesis

brand name and purchasing decision of
consumers for mobile online.

There is no significant relationship between Reject null hypothesis

durability and purchasing decision of consumers
for mobile online.

There is no significant relationship between Failed to reject null hypothesis

online reviews and purchasing decision of
consumers for mobile online.

There is no significant relationship between after Failed to reject null hypothesis

sale service and purchasing decision of
consumers for mobile online.
 FINDINGS:
 The study finds that (50.4%) of respondents are male and (40.9%) of respondents are
female.
 It is also noted that the majority of respondents belong to age group of 18-25.
 Most of the respondents prefer online shopping than offline shopping.
 It is also found that mostly people use Amazon platform to purchase mobile online.
 The gender has no significance influence on purchasing decision.
 It is found that mostly latest trend and discounts motivate the respondents to purchase
a mobile online.
 The most satisfying factors among all factors towards the purchasing behavior of mobile
online are Price, Brand and Durability.
 Respondents are not influenced by features, online reviews and after sale service.
 SUGGESTIONS:

 As the world is moving towards digitization and majority of respondents prefer online
shopping than offline shopping therefore the companies should emphasize more on
selling their mobile products online and creating a buzz over there.
 They should launch more and more discounts and trending offers time to time as these
influence people to purchase mobile online.
 They should also concentrate on the factors (price, brand name and durability) and
should take necessary steps to maintain these factors to retain and earn customers.
LIMITATIONS:

 Sample Size: The sample size was considerably small.

 Sample profile: Majority of the respondents were oh the age group 18-25. So, we can't
say for people of the other age group.
 Time constraints
CONCLUSION:
Study was conducted to identify the various attributes which have active role in purchasing
decision of mobile online. Research study shows that purchasing behavior towards mobile
online depend on various factors. Through the data analysis three factors are extracted which
has a positive impact on purchasing decision. Study reveals that Price, Brand name and
Durability has an impact on purchasing behavior. It is found that there is no significance
relationship between gender and purchasing behavior. Majority of respondents prefer online
shopping than offline shopping. The research has revealed that many factors are criteria for
purchasing behavior. It is not important that all the factors impact in the same way to all the
customers.
Completing this research, I got a great experience. This research gave me an opportunity to
work in a real-life situation. The learning which I got will be a valuable asset throughout my life.
The main focus of this study was to know the attributes consumer look while purchasing mobile
online. People are attracted toward the newer technology and will be able to shift from one
mobile to another because of latest trend. The study indicates that customers look for the
attributes like price, brand name and durability. However, they didn’t get influence by the
attributes like features, online reviews and after sale service. Mobile industry should come up
with newer ideas to establish faith in the customer’s mind regarding the value associated with
it.

REFERENCE:
QUESTIONNAIRE:

Q1: Name

Q2: Gender

Q3: Age
Q4: Status

Q5: Occupation

Q6: Income

Q7: How do you prefer to buy a mobile?

A) Online shopping b) Offline shopping

Q8: If online then what platform do you prefer online shopping for mobile?

A) Amazon B) Flipkart C) Snapdeal D) Other

Q9: Which mobile are you currently using?

A) APPLE B) Samsung C) Nokia D) Other

Q10: Does brand of your mobile affect your purchasing decision?

A) Yes b) No

Q11: What motivates you to buy a mobile online?

A) Discounts b) Latest trend c) Sale d) Need of the product

Q12: How much important are these factors while purchasing mobile online? (on a scale 1

to 5)

1 2 3 4 5

Price:

Features:

Brand name:

Durability:

Online reviews:

After sale service:

DATA ANALYSIS