A STUDY OF PRE-PURCHASE BEHAVIOR LEADING TO PURCHASE OF

SMARTPHONE THROUGH E-TAILING SITES

Abstract
A mobile phone that is able to perform many of the functions of the computer, typically
having a relatively large screen and an operating system capable of running general
purpose applications. It is mobile phones with more advanced computing capabilities and
connectivity than basic features phone. Early Smartphones typically combined the
features of a mobile phone with those of another popular consumer device, such as a
personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, a digital cameras and/or a GPS
navigation unit. Modern Smartphone include all of these features plus the features of a
laptop, including web browsing, Wi-Fi and 3rd party apps and accessories.
It is very important for consumers to understand as to what best fits their need and their
pocket. Today where internet has become almost a necessity without which one may feel
there is something missing in their daily life and to fulfill this objective many prefer to
own one smartphone which will ultimately help them in fulfilling their need and as it is
convenient to carry also many prefer Smartphones. But, there are various Smartphone
manufacturers who produces different types of smartphones all with basic feature plus the
additional features. However additional features charges are extra and the price of the
Smartphone can be much higher.
We are now living in the information era where information is available at our fingertips.
Whether it is checking the daily stock market or checking your mail to be up-to-date, it is
all available at the click of a button. It has enabled customers to make smarter decisions
and voice their concerns whenever the need be. According to the findings of a study
conducted by Bright-Local, 79 percent of the customers trust the online reviews as much
as personal recommendations.
In the present scenario consumers before making any purchase decisions go into detailed
study about particular information about the intended product and e-tailers are

bombarding the consumers with huge offers. Therefore, this study aims to study the prepurchase behavior leading to purchase of Smartphone through E-tailing sites. This study
will help determine what consumers look for before actually making a purchase decision.
Keywords: Smart phone, Consumer behaviors, Consumer usage survey, E-tailers

Introduction
Most of the mobile phones nowadays are addressed as smart phone, as they offer more
advanced computing power and connectivity than a contemporary mobile phone.
Literately, a smart phone is a handheld computer, as it is powerful enough to deliver
various functionalities comparable to a computer. The releases of dual-core processors
smart phone recently have further reaffirmed this assertion. Along with the smart phone
fundamental capabilities to make voice call, video call, SMS, and MMS, smart phones
have been repositioned as a new information medium. In other words, smart phones
have extended list of information processing functionalities such as managing personal
time schedule, accessing Internet contents, editing documents, utilizing locationawareness function, and many other exciting applications. All these functionalities are
delivered through the software installed on the smart phone. It is stressing that the ever
increasing importance of mobile software and other mobile contents are solicited by the
prevalent of smart phone.

Objective of the Study:

1. To study the pre-purchase search pattern of consumers in the selection of smartphone
from e-tailing sites.
2. To study smartphone users purchasing decision-making process through e-tailing sites.
3. To study the influences on Smartphone users purchasing decision making through etailing sites.
4. To study the importance of factors that influence mobile phone consumers purchasing
decision-making, including having the newest technology, the best design and

appearance, the lowest price among similar products, and the most attractive calling plan
package associated through e-tailing sites.

RESEARCH MRTHODOLOGY
Research is composed of two syllables, a prefix re and a verb search. Re means again, a
new, over again. Search means to examine closely and carefully, to test and try, to probe.
The two words form a noun to describe a careful and systematic study in some field of
knowledge, undertaken to establish facts or principles. Research is an organized and
systematic way of finding answers to questions. Basic Research and Applied Research
Basic research is geared toward advancing our knowledge about human behavior with
little concern for any immediate practical benefits that might result. Applied research is
designed with a practical outcome in mind and with the assumption that some.
Research Design
The research design adopted in this market research project is the descriptive research
design. This is a design method used to depict the participants in an accurate way or
describing people who take part in this study. In descriptive research one of the types of
data collection method has been used through a survey in which brief discussions and
interview questions was asked to each individual regarding the acceptance of the
counterfeit products.

The data is obtained through questionnaires filled by 100

consumers online mail survey. The data was managed by Google Docs and SPSS
software.

Sample
In this research project basically non probabilistic sampling techniques like convenience
sampling has been opted wherein selected friends, relatives through online mail survey
and print questionnaire was used.. A total of 100-consumer questionnaire were filled up
during the survey.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

In the current study, after collection of data , the data has been arranged and managed
using Excel and SPSS sheet and analyzed using Cross tabulation and independent t-Test
and also the data internal consistency is checked using the Chronbachs Reliability check.

Cross Tabulation: It is a statistical technique that describes the two or more

variables simultaneously and results in tables that reflect the joint distribution of two
or more variables that have a limited number of categories or distinct values

Chi-Square Test: This test is used to test the statistical significance of the observed
association in a cross-tabulation. It helps in establishing whether a systematic
association exists between the two variables.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
Review of the Smartphone, we know that Smartphone has become more mobility and
useful than ever before. It developed into a multi-purpose phone and also assists in the
working environment. Smartphone works together with the application software of social
networking tools like Face book. As a result, it has created a demand for Smartphone and
the growing interest of population using Smartphone. Hence, organization should
associate together with the climate whereby everyone will be depending on new
technology into their lifestyle. Tethering is the process of connecting secondary devices
(e.g., laptops, tablets, e-readers) to the Internet via a shared connection that is established
by a smart phone, either by setting up a personal Wi-Fi hotspot or by using a USB cable
to connect (or tether) the devices. Tethering has been a complex and pressing issue for
many operators globally due to an inherent lack of understanding of its impact on usage
behavior and, ultimately, the undetermined potential impact on the profitability of
carefully nurtured large-screen Internet access revenue streams. Indeed, such has been the
fear of cannibalization of these revenue lines that operators have introduced a number of
defensive policies designed to shape customer behavior around tethering. These policies
have also been influenced by the threat of abuse by users on unlimited data plans.

Clearly, the ability to connect multiple devices to a single cellular plan could significantly
raise the ceiling of the potential usage demand of any given customer.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

Independent Sample t-Test:
Statistical technique-independent sample t-Test. The independent sample t-Test can be
used to see if 2 means are different from each other when the two samples are based on
were taken from different individuals who have not been matched.
1. Null and Alternate Hypothesis:
Hypothesis-1:
H0: There is no difference between preferences for features of Smartphone on the
basis of gender
H1: There is a difference between preferences for features of Smartphone on the
basis of gender
2. It is two tailed test.
3. (Surendra Malviya, 2013) (Marr) (Surendra Malviya, 2013) (Marr) (Marr) (Marr)
(Marr) (Marr)The appropriate statistical test for this ratio scale is independent
sample t-Test.

First we are using 1 sample K-S Test.

One-Sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test

Features
N
100
Mean
1.5700
a,b
Normal Parameters
Std.
.49757
Deviation
Absolute
.376
Most
Extreme
Positive
.304
Differences
Negative
-.376
Kolmogorov-Smirnov Z
3.763
Asymp. Sig. (2-tailed)
.000

a. Test distribution is Normal.

b. Calculated from data.

Thus table shows that the value at the Sig(2-tailied) is .000, which shows that the
sample is normally distributed. Therefore, we are going for parametric tests. In
parametric test, for this type of data, in which samples are dependent on each other, we
are using independent sample t-Test.
Group Statistics
Gender

Mean

Std. Deviation Std.

Mean

Male
Female

79
21

1.5316
1.7143

.50219
.46291

Features

Error

.05650
.10102

Independent Samples Test

Levene's
t-test for Equality of Means
Test
for
Equality of
Variances
F
Sig. t
df
Sig.
Mean
Std. Error 95%
(2Difference Difference Confidence
tailed)
Interval of the
Difference
Lower Upper
Equal
15.151 .000 1.505 98
.136 -.18264
.12139
.05825
variances
.42353
assumed
Features Equal
1.578 33.627 .124 -.18264
.11574
.05267
variances
.41795
not
assumed
EVA- Equal Variance Assumed
EVNA- Equal variance Not Assumed.
After checking preference for features and sig. (P-Value) of Levenes Test is .000, which
shows that (P-Value) is less than the alpha value which is usually (0.05). So, the null
hypothesis is rejected. Therefore there is a difference between preference for features of
Smartphone on the basis of gender.

Chi- Square Test

Research question: Does gender have any preference on features of Smartphone
products
Setting up the hypothesis:

Ho: There is no relationship between Gender and feature preference

H1: There is significant relationship between Gender and feature

preference

Chi-Square Tests for Gender and preference for Features of

Smartphone
Value
df
Asymp. Sig.
(2-sided)
a
Pearson Chi-Square
4.675
4
.322
Likelihood Ratio
4.566
4
.335
Linear-by-Linear
3.568
1
.059
Association
N of Valid Cases
100
a. 3 cells (30.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum
expected count is 2.31.

Looking at the Chi Square value is 4.675, the (p-values) in the given case is .23 which is
greater than .05 hence at 95% confidence level, it can be concluded that the null
hypothesis should be rejected. There is enough evidence to suggest that there is
significant relationship between gender and the feature preference

Conclusion
The consumer buying a variety of smart phones which satisfy his wants and they are
always influenced by his purchasing activities by some considerations which lead him to
select a particular brand or a particular operating systems in preferred to others.
Consumers mostly preferred Apple smart phones. From this study I have gained lot of
practical exposure about consumer buying behavior towards smart phones.

Recommendations:

E-tailing sites should spend more on advertisement related offers like discounts as
it will help attract new customers.

E-tailing sites can come up with reference reward programs for customers who
recommend their e-tailing sites to their near and dear ones.

As customer prefers word-of-mouth or advertisement opinion leaders or some

tech savvy, so Smartphone brands must maintain their goodwill and increase
services.

As consumer wants more and more features so Smartphone manufacturers should

increase the number of features.

Smartphone provider can consider other method for increasing the number of
customers such as good customer service and social responsibility.

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