Some Intriguing Insights into Smartphone Consumerism - Research Paper Example

Marketing Research Survey Report: Smartphone Survey Name Institutional affiliation DISCLAIMER This material was grounded upon efforts supported by the University of Canberra. Any opinions, findings, deductions, or endorsements are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the University of Canberra, its employees or its administration. Letter of transmittal Dear Mr. Ryland Here is the project that we were allotted on the subject matter as per your request. The assignment has been finalized using the information we have collected from the course. We are highly grateful to all those people who provided us imperative information and gave us valuable assistance. We would be highly pleased if you went through the report thoroughly. We have tried our level best to complete this assignment eloquently and appropriately. If you require any assistance in deducing this project, please contact us without any reluctance. Thanking you. Yours obediently, (NAME) Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary..............................................................................................4 2. Introduction and Research Objectives..................................................................5 3. Method.....................................................................................................................6 4. Procedure.................................................................................................................7 5. Data Analyses and Results......................................................................................8 5.1 sample Table 1 5.2sample Table 2 6. Limitations and Caveats.......................................................................................11 7. Conclusions..........................................................................................................12 8. References...........................................................................................................13 9. Appendices...........................................................................................................14 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The number of smartphone users worldwide is expected to exceed one billion by 2013. Use of smartphones has become an elementary necessity for people all over the globe. Current times are highly dynamic especially with ICT products that are ever changing. Smartphones come in different shapes or models, colors, weight variances and brands. Further on, due to pronounced advances in technology over the past decade and a half has come to the emergence of the smartphone and operating systems. Operating systems come in all forms on the different smartphones in the market. The enquiry found that close to 100% of the respondents own smartphones they have bought for themselves rather than by the employer. Brands were also a key aspect of our findings. People prefer to purchase smartphones from the leading brands in smartphone manufacture such as IPhone and Samsung, although this varies highly with budget and tastes. The survey found that a majority of smartphone users have been using their current phoned for between 2 years. Most of the respondents cited the highly dynamic smartphones market, and they wished to stay up to date with new technology. Questionnaires on the subject of smartphones were supplied to different respondents who were supervised on how to answer the questions. The questions were of significant depth to help in finding out the variable uses of smartphones and how they influence the consumers. The questionnaires sort out to find; Purchaser of the phone, Brand of phone, Length of phone usage, Functions used most often, features that influence one to purchase a brand of smartphone, brand of smartphone consumers wishes to purchase, age of consumer, occupation of the consumer. INTRODUCTION Smartphones have become a global craze. A big chunk of the population now can claim to own a smartphone. The smartphone craze is greatly due to the hoard of functions that an individual can do with a smartphone. A few of the tasks that can be carried out on a smartphone include listening to music, taking photos, sending and receiving emails, documents processing, texting, and voice calls. The smartphone is becoming an essential part of our lives, and its importance to the great technological revolution is irrefutable (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). The embracing of Smartphones has been remarkable in mainstream markets all globally. Surveys reveal that around 42% of cell phone subscribers in the USA use Smartphones. While this totals at 44% of cell phone users in 5 major countries in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and UK). Usage of cell phones such as browsing, downloading content and accessing applications saw a great upsurge and exceeded 50 % in many markets (Brad Reed, 2010). Technological advances are generated on a trail of nonstop inventions. Such kind of progressive development pronounces the evolution from phones to mobile phones and lastly smartphones. A smartphone is a mobile telephone with an aptitude to operate advanced applications and browse the Internet (Denzin and Lincoln 2005). RESEARCH OBJECTIVES Market statistics shows that smartphone infiltration has levitated from 37% in 2011 to 65% of the population, and these smartphone holders are becoming progressively dependent on their gadgets. 65% access the Internet daily on their smartphone and a majority never leave home deprived of it. 90% of smartphone users look for local information on their phone and 86% take action, as a result, such as contacting a business or making a purchase. 77% of smartphone users don’t leave their homes without the gadget. Market research also shows that 41% of smartphone consumers use their smartphones for Internet connectivity on a daily basis. We sought out to understand the smartphone consumer from different angles and perspectives. We wanted to get facts and data about smartphone adoption and usage. How people use their smartphones on a daily basis (Pei Zheng, Lionel M. Ni, 2006). Satisfaction of the consumer and brand choice is also a major objective of this report all in relation to age and occupation of the smartphone owner (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005). METHODOLOGY The contributors included randomly selected people from within campus and in town. We approximated about 120 participants. The filling of the questionnaire was purely voluntary, and no coercion or influence from the group members was put upon the respondents. Materials used in this project were printed out questionnaires as per provided by the lecturer. Some of the key advantages of using questionnaires, for a survey such as this include; Assistance of respondents in answering the questions by the interviewers; It is relatively cheaper; The ability to obtain more diagnostic information by the interviewer being in direct contact with the respondent, and therefore, able to ask for clarification or elaboration of answers given. Procedure Group members went within and outside campus and sought out random people whom we explained to the prospect of our research. 5- 10 minutes was all that was required by most respondents to fill out the questionnaire. We also tried to classify the 120 respondents based on two factions that were gender and age, so as to try and get the best results from different demographic spectrums. Each group member had to interview 20 males and 20 females. Group members would have to distribute the questionnaires amongst the different age groups provided. The group members were encouraged to try and estimate the age of an individual before approaching any individual for the exercise (Miles and Hubermann, 1994). The questionnaire was administered by computer, responding to the input of the interviewer. After the conclusion of the interview, the respondent was thanked for their time and reminded of the interviewer’s name and the college. The first question was whether the participant had a smartphone or not. This inquiry as simple as it may seem is a significant question in the questionnaire. The second question was on brands, with multiple choices of the major brands but for those without they had a space to fill out the brand they were using. Time was also a factor, and the third question incorporated time, upon which the respondent had used their smartphone device. How often the respondent uses specific functions on their smartphone was established in the fourth question. We also found it quite important to know why individuals sought to buy a specific brand of phone. The sixth question focused on brand selection with options ranging from aesthetics, battery capacity, internet speeds, price, brand image, internal storage capacity, and camera resolution. We also wanted to know if the respondents were satisfied with the brand of smartphone they were using. To establish satisfaction, we asked whether if they buy another phone they would still buy the same brand or purchase a different one. Based on the degree of agreement that ranged from strongly agree or disagree on four different levels. Related to satisfaction from the brand choice we also asked whether they would recommend the brand of phone to someone else and whether an addition of accessories would make them more satisfied. Finally, we asked the age and occupation of the respondent so as to establish whether there were specific trends about smartphones respective to age and occupation of individuals. The data cleaning process was conducted once interviewing was complete, and involved manual checking of the dataset by the group members to ensure each record was complete. Checking of data for each question to ensure responses given were valid (that is, were contained within the options also provided took place. Data Analyses and Results Out of the 120 participants interviewed, 60 were male, and 60 were female. Out of all the respondents, a big number had purchased the smartphone from their personal funds but a majority of those under 18 had been purchased for by their parents or guardians. Samsung, iPhone and Blackberry were the most prevalent smartphones the respondents owned. IPhone led in statistics with 40 percent while Samsung and blackberry followed with 30% and 15% respectively. When it comes to what consumers can do with their smartphones, clients are swamped with options: games, internet access, photography, answering emails, voice calls, texting and substantially more options. We gathered that consumers aged 18-24 are significantly more likely to spend more time on their smartphones compared to consumers above the age of 25. 91% of the respondents check email on their smartphones at least once a day. Email use was more frequently used by those above the age of 25, and especially those who were working. Text messaging or SMS, 95% admitted to sending and receiving a text at least once a day. Respondents age 24 and below text more often than those who are above the age of 25. Text messaging and voice calls are the most often performed activities on smartphones. 98% of respondent admitted to using voice calls daily. When equating the everyday use of their smartphones, younger smartphone consumers of ages between 18 and 34 tend to listen to music quite often when compared to consumers aged above the age bracket. Older consumers above the youth bracket of 18-34 rarely used the music function on their smartphones. Photography using smartphones is a very popular function across all age groups and occupations. 60% of the respondents admitted to taking a picture very often. Document processing seemed to be of low value to most respondents with 20% admitting to using it frequently. Younger people use apps much more often than people who are above the age of 30. Watching movies, synchronizing with computer and iCloud were the least popular functions of a smartphone that the respondents used. Figure 5.1 Gender bias emerged in the selection of a smartphone. Females are expressively more than their male counterparts, to place a higher significance on aesthetics. Aesthetics includes; thickness, weight, design and brand image, although aesthetics is of importance to everyone. Meanwhile, males place an expressively greater value on the smartphone being associated with a big brand. Smartphone users aged above 55 are less likely to feel a company requires being a big brand, compared to younger consumers. Figure 5.2 When asked whether they would change the brand of phone they were using in their next purchase the responses varied depending on brand currently owned. 90% of iPhone users would not change their brand whereas about 40% of Samsung users would like to switch to iPhones. Blackberry users also seem loyal with 70% willing to remain with the brand on their next purchase. Users of other brands were indifferent to options of switching brands, but most of them would switch to an iPhone. Most of the participants stated they would highly consider recommending the brand of phone to their friends. Limitations and Caveats The limitations of this research report were few. Some people declined the request to be interviewed mostly due to busy schedules. The weather was also a challenge as the interviews were expected to be carried out in the open field. Conclusions In conclusion, the results of this research provided some intriguing insights into smartphone consumerism. Smartphones have clearly improved the quality of lives and individual production of very many people. On the other hand, big brands dominate the smartphone market, and it is clear this is due to the immense quality they produce with every product they roll out and also the after sale services. Many people—students, non-students, and all smartphone users think it would be impossible to live without the gadget. This exploration and other explorations to follow will contribute to the knowledge of the advantages—and possible disadvantages—of owning and using a smartphone. The diversified outcomes of this study recommend that we have quite a lot to learn about this technological monster called the smartphone. References Link, M., S. Duan k, K. Bristol, J. Lai (2014). “The Generational Technology Divide and Implication For Smartphone Data Collections.” Pei Zheng, Lionel M. Ni, 2006, Smart Phone and Next Generation Mobile Computing. Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (eds.). The SageHandbook of Qualitative Research, Third Edition, Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2005. Brad Reed, 2010. A brief history of Smartphone‘s. Read More