Relevance of Presence and Continuity in Business - Essay Example

Research Methods The proliferation of assorted mobile phone brands in the information and communication industry has created a cut-throat competition among key players, keen on increasing their market share. With increasing competition, consumers face though choices in identifying their best brand. It becomes necessary that mobile phone manufacturers comprehend the principal issues that can lure the prospective buyers to their brand. By doing so, they can conduct marketing action and planning. The study was based on 60 randomly selected university students who are consumers of different phone brands. It establishes the role played by advertising in influencing mobile phone preferences by customers. Results showed that gender and age groups were influenced at an equal scale by advertising and distribution of their mobile phone brands. 58% of respondents preferred I-phone brand. Many respondents preferred the functionality and performance aspects when choosing the brand. Information of mobile phones is obtained from the internet but bought from brand stores. Surprisingly many customers do not pay attention to advertising. There is need to place high preference on performance, operation and functionality when selecting mobile phone companies. This is also a clarion call for mobile phone companies to retain their market share by taking positive steps in increasing market share. Introduction The relevance of presence and continuity in business by any outfit is to generate sales and profits. Remaining in business is pegged on the ability to produce sufficient sales of products that cover operational costs and post rational profits. To many companies, sales estimate becomes the beginning of profit planning and budgeting (Cannon, 1999). Costs must be determined prior to running production and influencing material purchases. On the customers’ perspective, the optimal choice covers purchasing a product with average costs but maximizes on functionality, operational level and reliability. The regeneration of assorted mobile phone brands in the information and communication industry has created a cut-throat competition among key players, keen on increasing their market share (Dunn, & Barban 1987). With increasing competition, consumers face though choices in identifying their best brand. It becomes necessary that mobile phone manufacturers comprehend the principal issues that can lure the prospective buyers to their brand. By doing so, they can conduct marketing action and planning (Etzel, Walker & Stanton 1997). Nevertheless, in making decisions on sales, it is difficult to estimate, predict or establish with precision the prospective customers’ demands since they cannot control the factors that are external to the company (Gerard, 1998). Considering the significance of sales on business sustenance and the link between sales and customers, becomes expedient for companies to engage in programs likely to influence consumers’ decision to procure its products. This is the significance of brand management and advertising. In fact, advertising comprises the promotion mix which is a subset of the 4ps in the marketing mix (Gorn, 1982). As a strategy for promotion, advertising serves as a principal tool for creation of product awareness and influence the mind of a prospective consumer to take ultimate purchase decision (Kotler, 1988). Statement of the Problem From the foregoing, the aims of brand awareness and advertising is to create awareness of the product being advertised and supply information that will aid consumers in making purchase decision. The significance of advertising as a strategy to promote relies on its capacity to influence consumer in not only purchasing but also in continuation of repurchase and ultimate brand loyalty (Cannon, 1999). However, there are insufficient reasons to determine why mobile phone companies expend a colossal amount of money on brand management and advertising. A brand name given by mobile phone manufacturers differentiates products from those in the competition. In facilitating recognition and building up favorable product attitudes, individual buyers may speed the purchase decision process. Individual buyers filter out un-known or unfavorable brands and the continued procurement of the branded product reinforces the brand loyalty behaviour. In absence of brands, consumers fails to differentiate products making advertising an impossibility (Cannon, 1999). Purpose of the study The aim of the study was to establish whether brand difference influences product preferences in the mobile phone industry. Study objectives i) To examine the influence of customer profile on mobile phone product preferences ii) To establish the significance of advertising and brand management in product differentiation and distribution iii) To assess the influence of product features on customer preference of mobile phone products Significance of the Study By studying customer preference on the mobile phone products, the manufacturing companies can make use of the information to devise a brand that meets functionality, price, operation and aesthetic view o the mobile phone. This study will also be relevant to the marketing research since it provides information on what brand suits what customer segment. Literature Review The common mass-communication tools available are sales promotion, advertising, and public relations. Mass communication applies similar messages to everyone in the audience (Etzel et al., 1997). These tools trade off the merit of personal selling, and the chance to tailor a message to each potential customer, for the advantage of getting several people at a minimal cost per person. Nowadays, definitions of advertising flourish (Arens, 1996). It can be defined as communication and marketing process, with economic and social objectives to espouse the advantages of public relations, information and persuasion process. According to Dunn et al. (1978), advertising from the functional dimension is defined as paid, non-personal communication emanating from various media companies. They are intended for non-profit organization, business firms, and persons identified in the advertising message. These individuals hope to hope to inform or beseech members of specific audience (Batra, Myers & Aaker 1996). Morden (1991) gives an opinion to the effect that advertising establishes a fundamental awareness of the product in the mind of the prospective customer. It builds up understanding about it. Similarly, Kotler (1988) views advertising as a four pronged tool which companies apply to expressly persuade communications to intended buyers and public (Proctor & Stone, 1982). He noted that “it comprises of non-personal forms of communication carried through paid media with concise sponsorship”. He opines that the aim of advertising is to augment prospective buyers’ responses to the companies and its offering, reiterating that “it intends to give information, by directing desire, and by providing reasons for preferring a specific company’s offer (Morden, 1991). Etzel et al. (1997) while writing on the nature advertising and scope, concisely incorporated advertising as having consisting of four features: (i) A visual and/or verbal message (ii) An identified sponsor (iii) One or multiple media delivery (iv) Media payment by the sponsor delivering the message. In summary, advertising comprises of all the actions involved in audience presentation of non-personal, paid-for message and sponsor-identified regarding the product or company. The perspective of Etzel et al. (1997) complimented the elementary though all-embracing definitions suggested by Davies (1998) and Arens (1996). For example, it was stated by Davies that advertising is a paid form of non-individual media appearance promoting ideals and concepts for services or goods by a sponsor identified (Gerard, 1998). In addition, Arens articulated almost similar views depicting advertising as “the individual communication of information often paid for and occasionally persuasive in nature regarding ideas, goods and services of identified sponsors via different media platforms” (Kotler, 1988). From the foregoing, advertising creates awareness of the advertised products and gives information likely to assist consumers make purchase decision. The significance of advertising is in the promotional strategies, depending on its capacity to influence consumers, is to allow purchase and continued repurchase of developed brand loyalty (Proctor & Stone, 1982). As a result, many companies expend a substantial amount of money on brand management and advertising. A brand given by a manufacturer differentiates products from the competition hence facilitating recognition (Dunn, & Barban 1987). In the case where customers have developed favorable product attitudes, they may speed the personal buyers by the purchase decision process. Individual buyers filter out un-known or unfavorable brands, while continuously purchasing the branded product thus reinforcing the brand loyalty behaviour. In absence of brands, consumers fail to differentiate products, and as a result advertising becomes impossible. Advertising and Consumer Behaviour Advertiser’s principal mission is to reach potential customers and persuade their attitudes, awareness, and purchasing behaviour. A lot of money is spent in keeping individuals and markets fascinated by their products (Milliman, 1982). To thrive, they need to comprehend what makes prospective customers behave in a particular way. The advertisers’ objectives are to get substantial market data that develops precise profiles of buyers. This aims at finding the common symbols or group for communications involving the research on consumers’ behaviour. It espouses their mental, emotional and physical processes of people who consume goods and services that meet their needs and wants (Arens, 1996). According to Proctor et al. (1982), the chief objective of consumer behaviour analysis is to establish why consumers act in fastidious ways under given situations. It determines the issues influencing consumer behaviour such as economic, social and psychological factors (Etzel, Walker & Stanton 1997). These indicate the most favored marketing mix to be selected by the management. Consumer behaviour analysis establishes the direction consumers make in giving preferred product trends. They are attributed to alternative communication methods (Batra, Myers & Aaker 1996). It also helps to view consumers variables in the marketing progression, a product variable not only controlled and interpreted in terms of the physical characteristics, but also in the context of product image espoused by the consumers’ social and psychological makeup (Etzel, Walker & Stanton 1997). Economic theory establishes relationships between selling prices, actual sales and consumers’ revenue. At the same time, advertising expenditure frequently compares with net sales. On different occasions, financial accounting principles apply to profit analysis and losses. Financial management, solvency and liquidity ratios can be investigated under situations giving value to consumer’s motivations, beliefs perceptions, and attitudes (Dunn, & Barban 1987). The consumers are considered as rational if they react in the sense suggested by financial principles and economic theory. Nonetheless, it is evident that consumer behaviors fail to fall into these anticipated patterns. For this reason, consumer behaviour analysis is carried out as a tool to evaluate the marketing operations complexities (Etzel, Walker & Stanton 1997). The proliferation of assorted mobile phone brands in emerging and developed markets has given rise to cut-throat competition among manufacturers, targeting for increased market share and level of operations. Today, globally, there exists numerous phone making companies like Samsung, I-phone, Black berry, Nokia, HTC among others (Batra, Myers & Aaker 1996). There are hosts of up-coming and low-priced tailor made brands of mobile phones springing up in nook and cranny of the globe. Current and popular brands, face strong competition with the “affordable” personalized” “I-phones” with high functionality targeted by the middle-income groups. It is imperative for the more reputable brands like Nokia and Samsung to employ radiant advertising and branding strategies geared to influencing consumers’ behavior (Etzel, Walker & Stanton 1997). In order to continue enjoying and maintaining market leadership, the competitive environment in the mobile phone sub sector of the economy should remain high advertising potential (Arens, 1996). Methods Research Design This study constituted a Survey research design that sought to establish the influence of brand differences on mobile phone customer preferences and decisions. Sampling techniques adopted covered by the entire population and extracted a sample through stratified random sampling. The study was conducted in December 2012. Sampling and Sampling Procedure The study considered the rule of thumb to determine the study sample. The target population consisted of local and international university students of about 2000. The sample constituted 3% of the target population who are mainly youth of 18-29 years. To ensure that the sample is precisely representative of the entire population, the sampling methods were based on cluster and stratified random sampling. Data Collection The student population was stratified into various strata using sex and age. In this study, the sample consisted of a total of sixty (60) respondents selected from the general population. The sample included classes of male and female university students from the diverse departments of the university. Nevertheless, the study covered collecting information from respondents and their respective opinions in the selected university. Data collected and gathered made use of both the secondary and primary source of information (Davies, 1998). By use of questionnaires, the chief research instrument was used in gathering information from the student respondents (Arens, 1996). The questionnaire was pretested on some students within the University. This helped ascertain validity and reliability. The questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were administered and distributed to the respondents (60 respondents) with the anticipation of 85% return rate. Ethical Consideration The study was guided by principles and values that informed the ordinary research studies. The results and respondents opinions were greatly valued, safeguarded and secured. It was only used for the research purposes and was not extended for other social studies. Subjects were informed of their intention to react to the questionnaires and semi-structured interviews by written requests. They were given the discretion of either responding or declining from corroborating their judgments. Besides, the data collection instruments were administered at the behest of the respondents’ willingness and time. Data Analysis Data analysis was undertaken upon receiving more than 85% of the administered questionnaires and semi-structured interviews. Presentation was done by use frequency tables and basic percentages to determine the relationship among the variables. It was also determined by cross tabulation and hypotheses tests. The data obtained from respondents helped analyze and tabulate figures arising from findings. Chi-square (X2) inferential statistics was applied as the appropriate statistical test to examine the relationship between the variables. After presenting the tables and graphs, the chi-squared X2 value determined the decision levels and conclusions. Results Crucial socioeconomic parameters of interest were assessed to identify salient features of the respondents. Table 1: Consumer’s age distribution Sex Frequency Percentage Male 42 70 Female 18 30 Total 60 100 Source: Field survey analysis (2012) From the table above, there were more male respondents (70%) as compared to female respondents (30%). Table 2: Consumers brand preference Brands Frequency Percentage I-phone 32 53.33 Samsung 8 13.33 Nokia 6 10.00 HTC 3 5.00 Blackberry 7 11.67 Others 4 6.67 Total 60 100 Source: Field survey analysis (2012) Table 3: Consumer’s reasons for brand preference Reasons Frequency Percentage Functionality 37 61.67 Brand 12 20.00 Trend 8 13.33 Price 3 5.00 Total 60 100 Source: Field survey analysis (2012) Respondents cited functionality (61.67%) as the principal reason why they prefer the I-phone brand. Others indicated brand as a close reason of product preference, followed by trend and price. Table 4: The consumer’s source of awareness of mobile phone brands Sources Frequency Percentage Internet 28 46.67 Television 3 5.00 Brand store 8 13.33 Friends 20 33.33 Others 1 1.67 Total 60 100 Source: Field survey analysis (2012) Majority of the respondents mentioned that the internet (46.67%) is the principal source of information regarding the brand. Friends (33.33%) followed suit as the second informative medium used by buyers to obtain brand information. Other means are by use of television and sourcing from the brand store. Other valuable information showed that consumers took interest in the mobile phone brand they are purchasing. Many said that they buy their mobile phones through the brand stores, followed by shops and a few would procure through the internet. In addition, many consumers do not pay attention to mobile advertising but instead prefer mobile phone sales promotion. Performance and function are the mobile phone settings that customers pay attention to when buying the product. Besides, concern among mobile phone buyers are screen settings, IOS, color, calculator and Bluetooth settings. There is a greater likelihood of current customers recommending the mobile phone brand to friends. Table 5: Correlation Analysis Constructs Sales promotion Advertising Sales promotion Functionality 0.435** 0.305** Brand 0.412** 0.482* Advertising Trend 0.407* 0.302* Price 0.365** 0.312** Note: ** p Read More