Mobile Phone Consumers Research Articles

ASSESSING THE PURCHASE INTENTION OF MALAYSIAN GENERATION Y IN MOBILE SHOPPING

Generation Y is known as Millennials and also acknowledged as sophisticated and technology wise for which the internet became their forte. With the advancements of Internet technology especially the usage of smartphone to shop online, mobile shopping in this generation is significant and critical for exploration. While a large number of mobile phone consumers are connected to the Internet, it is also variety of online promotion appears aggressively to attract the customers’. As such research on what drives consumers to purchase online has typically been fragmented. In Malaysia setting, it is reported that- mobile phone users were dominated by generation Y users. As the reports indicate, users fully embrace the concept of getting connected everywhere at any time. With pattern showing increasing consumer subscriptions for mobile data usage, it thus indicates the importance of the purchase intentions of online users among Gen Y. The aim of this paper is to model the effect of the Gen Y consumers’ usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment of their online behaviours on mobile purchase intention. This research is to propose that when Gen Y consumers shop online through mobile applications, their behaviour such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and perceived enjoyment are the important factor to influence the consumer’s intention. To test this proposition, one hundred and sixty usable responses were collected using non-probability sampling. The conceptual model was tested using correlation and regression analysis. The findings show that the effect of a consumer’s perception on the usefulness, ease of use and enjoyment of mobile shopping towards purchase intentions were significant. We conclude that Gen Y has a strong influence on mobile purchase intentions. Research implications, limitations and suggestions for future researches were also discussed. Keywords : Gen Y, usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment and mobile purchase intention.

English

Mobile communication is very often materialized by the use of mobile Internet, SMS and MMS by companies to send advertising messages via mobile phones. SMS and MMS are a genuine social phenomenon. Furthermore, companies have found a new opportunity to operate in terms of targeted communication. Indeed, mobile communication is a fast and effective way of communication at lower cost. Many studies have already been undertaken on this topic in Europe, America and Asia. These studies have indicated that mobile marketing is more efficient than other contact modes with the permission that is in standards given in advance by the consumer to be sought. But in Sub-Saharan Africa in general and in Cameroon in particular, there is still a timid interest among the researchers on the field of mobile marketing. Despite a high penetration rate (71% in 2014) of mobile phone holders and a growing use of more advertising SMSs by enterprises, there is not yet legislation text in the sector of mobile communication in Cameroon. This explains why there is a misuse of advertising SMSs by Cameroonian enterprises. That is why the objective of this paper is to describe the reactions of Cameroonian mobile phone consumers toward advertising SMSs and the conditions of acceptance of advertising. The results have shown that the way Cameroonian mobile companies exploit this means of communication push them to adopt negative behaviors or negative reactions towards mobile advertising. For instance, 22.7% of Cameroonian mobile phone consumers delete advertising SMSs without reading them. In addition, in the absence of permission, the consumers condition receiving advertising SMSs by their entertaining and informative character.   Key words: Mobile marketing, advertising SMSs, intrusiveness, consumer’s reactions, conditions of acceptance, privacy, behavioral control.

Consumers’ Repurchase Intention Towards a Mobile Phone Brand in Qatar: An Exploratory Study Utilizing Theory of Reasoned Action Framework

The aim of this study is to analyze the influencing factors on consumers’ repurchase intention towards a brand of a mobile phone. The theory of reasoned action has been used in this study to measure consumer repurchase intention. This theory considers consumer attitude towards action and subjective norms as influencing factors on consumer purchase intention. In this study, past behaviour is also added to the model to measure consumers’ repurchase intention. The exploratory study was conducted in the State of Qatar and the results showed that peoples’ attitudes toward action, subjective norms and past behaviour tend to have a significant influence on their repurchase intention. However, the analysis reveals that there is a negative relationship between consumers’ repurchase intention and mobile phone price, size and consumers’ past behaviour. Results of this study can be used by the marketing managers to devise strategies to attract consumers by understanding the factors that affect repurchase intentions.

A higher-order model of consumer brand engagement and its impact on loyalty intentions

Consumer brand engagement is increasingly gaining popularity among practitioners and academics as a prominent consumer-brand relationship construct. The emergent literature on consumer brand engagement, largely conceptual, offers various definitions of the construct, though without much consensus. We offer a novel higher-order model of consumer brand engagement that we derive from organizational psychology. We adapt the concept of employee engagement and examine its factorial validity in a consumer-brand relationship context, defining consumer brand engagement as consumers' positive, fulfilling, brand-use-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication and absorption. We develop and empirically test a three-dimensional model of brand engagement, outlining relevant antecedents and outcomes. More importantly, we assess the managerial utility of consumer brand engagement by examining its impact on consumer loyalty intentions. We additionally compare the explanatory capability of brand engagement relative to traditional consumer judgments of value, quality and satisfaction. A survey of 408 mobile phone consumers from India provided data for empirical testing. The results support the three-dimensional factor structure of consumer brand engagement. Brand engagement not only exerts a significant impact on loyalty intentions, but also explains significantly more variation in the outcome in addition to the variation explained jointly by value, quality and satisfaction. Theoretically, we offer a holistic multi-dimensional measure of consumer brand engagement, and examine key nomological relationships. Managerially, we demonstrate the explanatory capability of brand engagement in explaining consumer loyalty intentions, offering a useful tool in the relationship-building repertoire of managers.

An Empirical Analysis of Use Motives: Implications for Segmenting Mobile Phone Consumers in Bangladesh

The tremendous increase of the use of mobile phones in Bangladesh by the young users has expanded the cellular phones market that has also attracted the attention of the foreign investors. This article attempts to investigate underlying sets of consumer motives for using cellular phones in Bangladesh. A primary survey was conducted among 157 young Bangladeshi mobile phone users aged from 20 to 30 years reside in Dhaka city. Structured questionnaire was used to interview the respondents. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the factors for using cellular phones in Bangladeshi young mobile phone users. Results show that there are five important factors that are considered by the Bangladeshi young mobile phone users. The factors are concerned with value added services, social connectivity, connection with the family, obtaining information on foreign education and facing emergency situation. This study also identified five different patterns of possible segmentation of cellular phone users that is, conscious, connective, communicative, continental and contingent and constitute the basis for strategic positioning.

A taxonomy of mobile phone consumers: insights for marketing managers

Amid less attention to the market segmentation of innovations through positioning innovations in the minds of consumers, the paper explores consumer innovativeness, need for emotion, and prestige price sensitivity to develop a taxonomy of mobile phone consumers. The study analyses survey data of 416 consumers using factor analysis and cluster analyses indicating interesting findings. Four distinct clusters emerge, namely cognitive adopters, prestige-seeking emotional innovators, emotional adopters, and prestige-seeking cognitive innovators. Findings reveal that prestige-seeking emotional innovators and prestige-seeking cognitive innovators have relatively higher level of innovativeness and prestige price sensitivity, but at the same time differ between them in terms of their level of need for emotion. The paper contributes to knowledge by suggesting that marketing constructs such as consumers' sensitivity to the prestige cue of prices as well as consumers' need for emotion are used to cluster mobile phone consumers. The taxonomy is highly relevant to marketing managers as it gives insights into potential additional bases for segmentation, positioning, and marketing communication strategy targeting innovative consumers through cognitive and/or emotional cues.

Pemodelan Online Community Relationship Management dalam Pembentukan Value Co-Creation di Industri Broadband Telekomunikasi Selular Indonesia

.The growth of mobile broadband services has changed the paradigm of mobile phone consumers from information oriented toward social and communication oriented. Along with this changes, mobile telecommunications providers have to develop a business model of online community as a 'stage' that is easily accessible to all interested customers to this facility. This research serves to purposes. First is to build a model of online community relationship management in the creation of value co-creation. The second purpose is to analyze the impact of online community to the creation of customer's attitude toward the brand and firm image. The study is using a sample of broadband community from the largest mobile telecommunications provider in Indonesia. The analysis tools are Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). From this research, we will know the model of the impact of online community to the customer attitudes and value co-creation as an Online Community Relationship Management in broadband mobile telecommunications industry in Indonesia.

A Cross-Culture Empirical Study of M-commerce Privacy Concerns

There has been little empirical research about consumer information privacy concerns in the context of mobile commerce. This article explores the relationships between mobile phone users’ characteristics and their information privacy concerns from a cross-cultural perspective by analyzing the mobile phone consumers in the United States and Korea. The study collected a total of 540 usable responses, including 276 U.S. responses and 264 Korean responses. Analyses revealed that Koreans were much more active in mobile commerce activities. In general, the U.S. sample expressed significantly higher levels of information privacy concerns than those of the Korean sample. The number of years of mobile commerce experience seems to have little impact on the privacy concerns of Americans. Income does not seem to have any bearing in Americans’ mobile commerce activities. Understanding the mobile users’ demographics and their attitudes toward information privacy concerns in different cultural contexts will help mobile commerce businesses better serve global consumers.

An analysis of switching behavior in the Thai cellular market

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explain the determinant factors of switching behavior in the Thai cellular market before the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) policy is implemented.Design/methodology/approachA binary logit model and individual survey data from the National Telecommunications Commission 2009 are used to estimate the intention of mobile phone consumers to switch.FindingsThe results show that subscriber characteristics, including age, government officer, self‐employed, internet use, central region, and southern region, are significant in explaining the switching behavior of Thai mobile subscribers. They also indicate that the mobile operators' customers are confronted with different switching costs. The subscribers of the largest mobile operator have the highest switching costs. This study also shows that the largest mobile operators will gain more switching subscribers than smaller operators. The implementation of MNP will help to lower the switching costs of smaller mobile operators rather than of larger operators, as the subscribers of smaller operators are more likely to switch and move to larger mobile operators, as the larger operators provide better quality network coverage. The study shows that the expected impact of implementing MNP without national mobile roaming regulations would be worse for smaller mobile operators. The smaller operators need to compete on both price and quality improvement. In the short run, it would not be possible for the smaller operators to compete with the larger operators due to the inequality in the quality of network coverage.Originality/valueThe result is useful to developing countries considering implementing MNP regulation.

The Effect of Pricing and Advertising on Customer Retention in a Liberalizing Market

This study investigates the drivers of customer retention in a liberalizing market. The authors address key retention issues that allow them to contribute to existing retention research in several critical ways. They (1) examine the effects of pricing and mass advertising, (2) account for (new entrants) competitors' actions, (3) investigate the dynamic impact of marketing tactics, and (4) study the proposed relationships in a market recently opened to competition. Using longitudinal data for a sample of 650 mobile phone consumers and a split-population hazard model that accounts for the notion that some customers are never at risk of defection, the authors show that both the focal firm's (incumbent) and the competitors' price and mass advertising exert a significant influence on the probability of terminating an existing incumbent relationship. They find that the relationships between marketing variables and retention are not static but vary over time. Price is generally less effective in the early stages of market liberalization, which suggests that customers become more price sensitive in later stages. Finally, the study findings can have important strategic implications on designing customer management and marketing resource allocation strategies, as well as on providing a competitive regulatory framework in liberalizing markets.

ORIENTATIONS OF PERSONAL VALUE AND CONSUMERS’ INFORMATION SEARCH BEHAVIOUR

This study examines the impacts of materialism and collectivism on consumers’ prestige sensitivity and value consciousness. Also, it examines the impacts of consumers’ prestige sensitivity and value consciousness on ongoing search behaviour. A test based on a sample of 268 mobile phone consumers in HCM City reveals that collectivism has a positive impact on value consciousness and that materialism has a positive impact on prestige sensitivity. The results further show that both prestige sensitivity and value consciousness exert positive effects on consumers’ ongoing information search behaviour.

An Analysis of Switching Behavior in the Thai Cellular Market

The purpose of this paper is to explain the determinate factors of switching behavior in the Thailand cellular market before the mobile number portability (MNP) policy is implemented. A binary logit model and individual survey data of the National Telecommunications Commission 2009 is used to estimate the intention of mobile phone consumers to switch. The results show that subscriber characteristics including age, government officer, self employed, internet use, central region, and southern region can significantly explain switching behavior of Thai mobile subscribers. It also indicates that different mobile operators’ customers confront with different level of switching costs. The subscribers of the largest mobile operator receive highest switching costs. This study also shows that the largest mobile operators will gain more switching subscribers than smaller operators. The implementation of MNP will help to lower switching costs of smaller mobile operators rather than larger operators since the subscribers of smaller operator are more likely switch and they would move to the larger mobile operators since the larger operators provide better quality of network coverage. The study shows the expected impact of implementing MNP without national mobile roaming regulation that it will be worst for the smaller mobile operators. The smaller operators need to compete on both price and quality improvement. In the short run it would not be possible for the smaller operators to compete with larger operators due to inequality of quality of network coverage.

Discovering behavioral segments in the mobile phone market

PurposeThis paper aims to discover consumer segments with different behavioral profiles in the mobile phone market. For this purpose, it seeks to analyze the decision‐making criteria of 302 mobile phone consumers in Turkey and cluster the sample meaningfully into four behaviorally different groups.Design/methodology/approachFactor analysis is conducted on 32 different attributes to which consumers attach importance in purchasing a mobile phone. Nine major decision‐making criteria emerge from this analysis. These criteria are used for segmenting this consumer market into four behavior clusters, namedly as pragmatic, abstemious, value‐conscious, and charismatic.FindingsPragmatic consumers are found to give high importance to the functional, physical and convenience‐based attributes of the product. The abstemious group also gives importance to functionality along with design. While value‐conscious consumers focus strongly on price, the charismatic segment represents the want‐it‐all group valuing many attributes such as technological superiority, practicality, durability, functionality, and design. The study also includes findings and discussions about the differences these clusters display in terms of their involvement and loyalty styles.Research limitations/implicationsHigh‐tech products such as mobile phones are becoming indispensable in people's lives; thus leading to a high‐involvement decision‐making process. It is crucial for marketers of these products to understand behaviorally different consumer segments that show significant variations in their decision‐making criteria for such products, and approach them accordingly.Originality/valueThe study applies cluster analysis as a behavioral segmentation tool in a high‐technology product market and successfully identifies four distinct consumer groups with alternative decision‐making styles.

Consumer Behavior in Purchase of Mobile Phone in Urban City of Karachi

The dynamic times we are living in may be one of the most fascinating times to study mobile phone purchasing motives. There is not enough data available on the salient factors which affect the decision making process; usage and brand loyalty in mobile phone consumers belonging to different age groups. Therefore, this study addresses this subject by using the Models of Wheel of Consumer Analysis and Consumer Decision Making Process to evaluate two distinct age groups: 18-35 years and 36-50 years. It further evaluates effect of marketing strategies on consumers of both age groups, based on a popular brand of Nokia. Findings of this study show that younger consumers, aged 18-35 years, are comparatively more affective and more inclined towards technologically advanced mobile phones, whereas, the older consumers aged 36-50 years are more cognitive. Both the age groups are highly involved in the purchase decision of mobile phones. Word of mouth, mobile phone dealers’ websites and advertisements play the most powerful role in influencing their purchase decision. The final part of the study on behavior towards Nokia reveals the brand’s unique selling points across both age groups are durability and quality. Majority is not satisfied with its pricing strategy and need more features at lower prices. However, older age group shows higher level of brand loyalty for Nokia.

Self-Regulation of Mobile Marketing Aimed at Children: An Overview of the Spanish Case

Mobile phones have changed consumer and company behaviour and today they constitute the most direct means of communication between them. Many groups are targeted through promotion campaigns using mobile phones. Children, who in the future will be the largest consumer of new technologies, are one of these groups. Given that current Spanish legislation does not clearly establish what company policy ought to be in relation to promotions aimed at children, self-regulation of the mobile telephone sector is imperative. Spain is already among the developed countries in which one out of every two children has a mobile phone. Firms should pay special attention to this target group. Firstly, because promotional campaigns aimed at children have their peculiarities and secondly because of the legal and ethical protection that children deserve. Company policy, in this sense, should include the drawing up of Codes of Conduct. This article begins by analysing the child segment as mobile phone consumers. It then highlights the legal and ethical problems of mobile campaigns aimed at children, and looks at some studies carried out by the European Commission and the Spanish government. Finally, this paper draws some conclusions about the measures companies should adopt and offers practical help for self-regulation of the mobile telephone sector in Spain and, if possible, in other countries (especially other European countries within the framework of the agreement signed by the leading European mobile operators in 2007 to develop self-regulatory codes by 2008). Moreover, future research needs to centre on whether these measures increase child protection.