a study on students buying behavior towards laptops

1

A

Project report

On

“A study on Student’s Buying Behaviour towards

laptops”

In partial fulfillment for the requirements of project study course in two

year full-time masters of business administration

Submitted to:

Prof. Parnika Jha

Submitted by:

Shashank Tripathi (112)

Batch 2011-2013

S. K. Patel Institute of Management & Computer Studies

Gandhinagar

April, 2013

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that Mr. Shashank Tripathi, student of S.K Patel Institute of Management

and Computer Studies, have successfully completed his Grand Project on “A study on

Student’s Buying Behaviour towards laptops” in partial fulfillment of curriculum

requirements for the award of MBA degree under Kadi Sarva VishwaVidhyalaya University.

This is their original work and has not been submitted elsewhere.

____________________

Prof.Sandhya Harkawat

Comprehensive Project Incharge

Date: _________________

Place: Ahmedabad

____________________

Prof. Bhavin Pandya

Director

Prof. Parnika Jha

Internal Project Guide

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DECLARATION

I, Shashank Tripathi (112) student of Semester IV in S.K Patel Institute of Management and

Computer Studies, hereby declare that I had successfully completed this project on “A study

on Student’s Buying Behaviour towards laptops” in the academic year 2011-2013.

I declare that this submitted work is done by me and to the best of my knowledge; no such

work has been submitted by any other person for the award of degree or diploma.

I also declare that all the information collected from various secondary and primary sources

has been duly acknowledged in this project report.

Shashank Tripathi

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I hereby convey my deep acknowledgement to all those who made it possible for me to

complete this project, by extending their support and continuous co-operation.

I would like to acknowledge the consistent encouragement extended by Dr. Bhavin Pandya,

Director of S.K.Patel Institute of Management & Computer Studies.

My sincere gratitude to Professor Parnika Jha whose constant guidance, efforts, heartfelt

support, suggestions and consideration helped me in the successful completion of this project.

Finally, I would like to thank my friends and SKPIMCS batch mates without whom this

dissertation work would not have been successfully completed.

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ABSTRACT

A customer is anyone makes regular purchases from a company or a store, while a consumer

is one who makes any transactional decisions of economic nature including buying of goods

and services. Consumer can be both personal consumer who buy for his or her own person

and family consumption and organizational consumer which could include nongovernmental

organization, political groups, companies and governments. Consumer behavior is the study

of how individuals, group, and organizations select, buy, use, and dispose of goods, services,

ideas, or experiences to satisfy their needs and wants. Buying Behavior refers to the buying

behavior of the ultimate consumer. Buying Behavior is the decision processes and acts of

people involved in buying and using products which includes social and mental processes.

This study was undertaken in order to find out the factors influencing consumer’s purchase

decision of laptop. And the findings of this first objective will provide the basis for the

second research objective in the study. Secondly, it is intended to find out whether there are

differences among consumer groups of a laptop company with respect to the importance

given to the factors influencing consumers’ laptop purchases. The customer base of a

company consists of three groups of consumers stayers (those who had never switched from a

previous brand), satisfied switchers (those who switched for reasons other than

dissatisfaction) and dissatisfied switchers (those who switched because they were dissatisfied

from their previous brand).This study, thus looks into the understanding of the attitudes of

these three different groups of customers which plays an important role when implementing

effective and feasible retention and loyalty strategies. Furthermore, it is also crucial to

understand whether there are differences among these groups in terms of the factors affecting

their future laptop purchases when they are upgrading their laptops.

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Executive Summary

Laptops are an integral part of today’s student’s study kit. And with a plethora of

brands inundating the market, each trying to differentiate itself from the other in terms of

features, style, etc and trying to entice the buyer with attractive offers, the decision of

zeroing on the laptop has become a gruesome exercise for the student. The very nature of

the product encourages the prospective buyer to go through all the stages of a typical

buying process. That is the reason that i have taken up to study the consumer buying

behaviour for laptop buying.

The primary objective of the project can be satisfied progressively by satisfying

the secondary research objectives which are determining the factors, mapping the

customer profile & perceptual mapping. A primary research based on questionnaires and

analytical processing of the response will be conducted to fulfill the research objectives

wherever the secondary data is not available.

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Table of Content

Particulars Page No.

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 8

1.1 INTRODUCTION 8

1.2 THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 8

1.3 THE REASON FOR INTRODUCING A MODEL OF

CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 9

1.4 THE MAJOR INFLUENCE FACTORS ON


1.4.1 CULTURAL FACTORS 9

1.4.2 SOCIAL FACTORS 10

1.4.3 PERSONAL FACTORS 10

1.4.4 PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS 11

1.5 THE BUYING DECISION PROCESS 12

1.6 THE IMPORTANCE OF BUYING 14

1.7 BRAND AWARENESS AND ITS EFFECT ON


1.8 PERCEIVED QUALITY AND ITS EFFECT ON


1.9 BRAND ASSOCIATION AND ITS EFFECT ON


1.10 BRAND LOYALTY AND ITS EFFECT ON


CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 21

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 23

3.2 SCOPE OF STUDY 23

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 23

3.4 SAMPLE DESIGN 24

3.5 LIMITATIONS 24

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS & DATA

INTERPRETATION

25

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 55

CHAPTER 6 FINDINGS 56

CHAPTER 7 LIMITATIONS 57

CHAPTER 8 RECOMMENDATIONS 58

CHAPTER 9 ANNEXURE 59

CHAPTER 10 BIBLIOGRAPHY 62

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CHAPTER-1

INTRODUCTION

1.1.Introduction

This provides a context for the research topic. It begins with the demonstrate of the definition

of consumer behaviour as well as a model of consumer behaviour. Then it will illustrate the

different factors that influence the consumer behaviour as well as the buying decision process

in order to understand the essence of consumer behaviour. After that, the emphasis will be on

brand field. The effect of brand on consumer behaviour will be discussed based on its four

components in order to analyze how brand is very important in the consumer decision-

making process therefore influencing the consumer behaviour.

1.2.The importance of consumer behaviour

The definition of consumer behaviour

There is no doubt that the customer is essential for the firm in the marketing field. Wllkie

(1994, P.14) stated that “consumer behaviour is the mental, emotional, and physical activities

that people engage in when selecting, purchasing, using, and disposing of products and

services so as to satisfy needs and desires”. He further explained that there are seven keys to

consumer behaviour, which are:

1) Consumer behaviour is motivated;

2) Consumer behaviour includes many activities;

3) Consumer behaviour is a process;

4) Consumer behaviour varies in timing and complexity;

5) Consumer behaviour involves different roles;

6) Consumer behaviour is influenced by external factors;

7) Consumer behaviour differs for different people.

Moreover, Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel (2001, p6) defines “consumer behaviour as those

acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic goods and services

including the decision processes that precede and determine these acts”. That is to say,

consumers behaviour involve with the mental procedure and physical acts towards the

multiply goods and services. In addition, in Arnould, Price and Zinkhan’s (2004, p23) point

of view, “consumer behaviour is people acquiring, using, and disposing of products, services,

ideas, or experiences”. In other words, consumer behaviour includes several physical and

mental activities stages refer to the products or services.

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1.3.The reason for introducing a model of consumer behaviour

According to these definitions, we can say that consumer response is often the ultimate test of

whether or not a marketing strategy will succeed. As Kotler (2000) said the most important

thing is to forecast where customers are moving, and to be in front of them. Thus, the more

understanding of the consumer behaviour, the more successful marketing strategies will be

made (Solomon et al, 2002). In earlier times, marketers could understand consumers well

through the daily experience of selling to them. However, as firms and markets have grown

in size, many marketing decision makers have lost direct contact with their customers and

must now turn to consumer research.

In order to study consumers we need to learn more about consumer buying behaviour, such

as who buys? How do they buy? When do they buy? Why do they buy? Therefore, the

research of customers’ behaviour is necessary and significant. A model of consumer buying

behaviour is a representation of the phenomena it is intended to designate-that is, it specifies

the elements and represents the nature of the relationships between them (Blackwell,

Miniard, and Engel, 2001). “It is a frame of reference that guides market researchers through

marketing problems and its explanations can gain in ability to predict outcomes under

varying sets of circumstances” (Kollat et al,1970, p4). Apparently consumers could be

affected by marketing stimuli such as price, place, promotion and environmental stimuli

when they move on step by step in the decision process towards a final buying decision, and

the fact is consumers always may say one thing but do another because a variety of

influences are the cause of certain actions undertaken by consumers. Thus, this study has to

focus on Kotler’s Model since it is most relevant to the purpose of this study. Moreover,

some of the references here appear to be dated, but they are used here because they are very

influential in development of consumer behaviour theory and knowledge.

1.4.The Major Influence Factors on Consumer Behaviour

According to Kotler’s (2003) model, consumer purchases are influenced strongly by cultural,

social, personal and psychological characteristics. Generally speaking, marketers cannot

control such factors, but they must take them into account because these factors affect how

individual consumers react to the different stimuli that firms send out through their

communication. The marketer’s task is to understand what happens in the buyer’s

consciousness and the buyer’s decision making process. Thereby, this section will focus on

demonstrating the factors affecting buying behaviour according to Kotler (2003).

1.4.1.Cultural Factors

Cultural factors exert deep influence on consumer behaviour. Culture is the basis for a

person’s wants and behaviour (Kotler, 2003). Culture refers to “a set of values, ideas,

artefacts and other meaning symbols that help individuals communicate, interpret and

evaluate as members of society” (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel, 2001, p362). It affects the

consumers shaping the attitudes, feelings, biases, and opinions, which enable marketers to

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interpret or even predict the reaction of consumers to specific marketing strategies. Thus, it is

vital for firms to be aware of culture, even its trends and changes. (Baker,2000) and gives rise

to new marketing opportunities and threats ( Lancaster and Massingham, 1993).

1.4.2.Social Factors

A consumer’s behaviour is also influenced by social factors, such as reference group, family,

and social roles and status (Kotler, 2003). Because these social factors can strongly affect

consumer response, firms must take them into account when designing their marketing

strategies.

For one thing, reference group has significant influences on the individual’s product and

brand purchases. “Reference group are groups that serve as direct or indirect points of

comparison or reference in forming a person’s attitudes or behaviour” (Kolter 2003, p196).

Indirect or direct reference groups include family, friends and neighbours. Bearden and Rose

(1990) pointed out that reference group not only lead an individual to new behaviours but

also have effect on individual’s attitude and self-concept, which in turn influence actual

brand preference and choice. Therefore, in other words, references lead the market trends

(Kotler, 2000).

For another thing, family members can strongly influence buyer behaviour. Kotler (2003,

p179) pointed out that “family influences one’s orientations toward politics and economics

and a sense of personal ambition, self-worth and love”. Even if the buyer no longer interacts

very much with his or her parents, the family can still significantly influence the buyer’s

behaviour. Walters and Paul (1970) suggested that the importance of the family arises for two

reasons: many products are purchased by multiple consumers acting as a family unit; even

when an individual makes purchases, other members of the family may heavily influence the

buying decision of the individual.

What is more, the person’s position in each group can be defined in terms of both role and

status. A role consists of the activities that people are expected to perform according to the

persons around them, which influence the person’s buying behaviour (Kotler,2000). Each

role carries a status reflecting the general esteem given to it by society. People often choose

products that show their status in society. For example, the role of a manager has more

statues than the role of student, as a manager, the person will buy the kind of product that

reflects her of his role and status.

1.4.3. Personal Factors

A buyer’s decision is also influenced by personal characteristics such as the buyer’s age,

occupation, economic situation, lifestyle and personality and self-concept (Rowley, 1997).

The age of the buyer is one of the major factors influencing individual’s purchases(Cole and

Siva, 1993). People in the different ages have different needs. A brand must be

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understandable to the age group to which the product or service is targeted and should be

delivered through a medium used by members of that group (Wells et al, 1992).

On the other hand, a person’s occupation can affect the goods and services bought.

Occupational groups usually have above average interest in the products and services, which

are related to their occupation (Kotler, 2003). Therefore, the marketers need to consider the

right occupational groups as the production and marketing target. A company can even

specialise in making products needed by a given occupational group. For example, computer

software firms will design different products for brand managers, accountants, engineers,

lawyers and doctors.

Moreover, “lifestyle is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his or her activities,

interests and opinions” (Kotler, 2003, p183). People coming from the same subculture, social

class and occupation may have quite different lifestyles and it can vary significantly in

different countries. By knowing the target consumers’ lifestyle will help in product

development and advertising.

Equally important, economic circumstances greatly affect product choice. Since the income

is not only the consideration factor for the consumption demand, but also the determinants

factor for the preference, companies need to continuously track the trends of the personal

income over the target potential consumers towards the designed product (Baker, 1996).

Therefore, income level is a useful variable to explore the consumer buying behaviour and

brand decision while buying a product.

Different people have distinct personalities that influence their buying behaviours and certain

brand choices (Kolter, 2003). Personality refers to the unique psychological characteristics

that lead to relatively consistent and lasting responses to one’s own environment (Kolter,

2003). “It is described in terms of such traits as self-confidence, dominance, autonomy,

deference, sociability, defensiveness, and adaptability” (Kassarjian, 1981,p410). However,

Chisnall (2001) proposed that personality may influence the decision to buy a certain product

type, but not the final brand choice.

Finally, self-concept is the way a person views himself/herself (Kotler, 2003). In other

words, it is the perceptions that contribute to and reflect their identities: that is, ‘we are what

we are’. Marketers can predict the response of the customer towards the brand image by

analyzing the target consumer’s self concept thereby helping the marketing mix.

1.4.4.Psychological Factors

A number of complex behaviour factors lie in psychological factors including perception,

motivations, attitudes and learning (Kotler, 2003).

Firstly, “a motive is a learned need that is sufficiently pressing to direct the person to seek

satisfaction” (Kotler & Keller, 2006,p184). In other words, it leads consumers to pursue

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particular goals because they are socially valued (Buchanan & Hucaynski, 1997). Therefore,

motivation is the condition of being motivated (Walter & Paul, 1970). Thus, Marketers need

to identify what needs the consumer is trying to satisfy. Here we introduce one motivation

theory in order to understand human motivation, which is often used by marketers.

Maslow’s theory: Maslow (1970) illustrated that people are driven by particular needs at

particular times. The key point is that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy. He classified

the human’s needs to five levels, which are psychological needs, safety needs, social needs,

self-esteem needs and self-actualization. Maslow argues that the lower down the needs lie,

the more basic they are and the basic physical needs have to be satisfied, at least to minimum

level, before the next level of needs becomes important. This theory helps marketers

understand how various products and brands fit into the plans, goals and lives of potential

consumers.

Secondly, a motivated person is ready to act. How the person acts is influenced by his or her

perception of the situation. “Perception is the process by which an individual selects,

organises and interprets inputs to create a meaningful picture of the world.” (Bereson and

Steiner, 1964, p67). Two people with the same motivation and in the same situation may act

quite differently because they perceive the situation differently.

Thirdly, learning describes changes in an individual’s behaviour arising from experience

(Kotler, 2003). Learning occurs through the interplay of drives, stimuli, cues, responses and

reinforcement. It tells marketers to build up demand for a brand associating it with strong

drives, using motivation cues, and providing positive reinforcement (Coupey and Nakamoto,

1988).

In addition, belief is a descriptive thought that a person holds about something (Kotler, 2003).

People tend to act and response to the product according to their belief towards the image of

target products (Kotler). Therefore, marketers need to do the effort to communicate a positive

belief of a product or brand for the costumers.

1.5.The Buying Decision Process

As introduced above, the consumer’s choice results from the complex interplay of cultural,

social, personal and psychological factors. Although the marketer cannot influence many of

these factors, they still can be useful in identifying interested buyers and in shaping products

and appeals to serve their needs better. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce consumer

buying decision process, by which marketers can monitor the process to develop the

effective marketing mix by utilizing stimuli and factors to guide consumers to certain

products.

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In a buying decision process, a consumer will pass through five stages as shown below.

Problem

Recognitin Information

Search Evaluation of

alternatives Purchase

Decision Post purchase

Behaviour

Figure: Buyer decision process

As shown in the figure above, the buying process starts when consumer recognises a problem

or need, which is triggered by internal or external stimuli (Kotler, 2003). In other words, the

particular consumer recognizes she or he needs to buy something to solve problems she or he

faces. This will drive the potential buyer to search and gather information about the products

that will solve the particular problems. According to Kotler(2003), This stage can be divided

into two levels, which are milder level and active level. At the former level, consumers

simply receipt the information about the product; at the second level, consumers are more

likely looking for the product information actively, such as online searching, visiting stores,

reading materials and phoningfriends.

Kolter(2003) also points out that the information source could be fell into four groups:

personal(family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances); commercial(advertising, web sites,

sales persons, dealers, packaging, displays); public(mass media, consumer-rating

organizations) and experiential(handling, examining, using the product). As a result of that,

the potential buyer becomes acquainted with some of the brands in the market and their

features. As Jobber (2004) points out that the objective of information search is to build up

the awareness set- that is, the array of brands that may provide a solution to the problem.

After that, consumers move into third stage-evaluation of alternative. In this stage,

Preferences among the brands in the choice set will be formed. The evaluation is based on the

product or service whose attributes are perceived to best satisfy the need. Namely, it is a

brand evaluation stage.

According to Assael (1992), in this stage, consumers will use information to associate brands

they are aware of with their desired benefits and they will prefer the brand that they expect

will give the most satisfaction based on the benefits they seek. The outcome of brand

evaluation is the awareness brands set narrow down to the small range of consideration

brands then into smaller range of choice set (Blackwell, et.al,2001).

Kotler (2003) further points out that in this stage, the customer’s beliefs and attitudes

towards the attributes and benefits of a brand has a positive impact on the brand choice. After

the brands evaluation stage, the intention to buy a specific brand will be made, in this stage,

five sub-decisions will be made: brand, dealer, quantity, timing and payment method

(Kotler,2003). Then, the consumer will execute a purchase intention to buy the most

preferred brand or product which they believe may satisfy them.

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After purchasing the product, the consumer will experience some level of satisfaction or

dissatisfaction. In post-consumption evaluation. In this stage, the satisfaction of the

consumption will result in the storing evaluation in memory and refer to them in future

decisions. On the contrary, when experiences and performance fall short of expectations,

dissatisfaction occurs (Blackwell, Miniard, and Engel p.80, 2001).

This model of buying decision process emphasizes that the buying process starts long before

the actual purchase and has consequences long after the purchase. This is as Francesco (1966)

said it encourages the marketer to focus on the buying process rather than on the purchase

decision. Although buyers may skip or reverse some stages of the model, the model captures

the full range of considerations that arise when a consumer faces making a new purchase.

1.6.The Importance of Branding

A successful brand is one which creates and sustains a strong, positive and lasting impression

in the mind of a buyer (Kotler,2003). As Doyle (1998.p.77) claims “a successful brand is a

name, symbol, design or some combination, which identifies the product of a particular

organization as having a sustainable differential advantage”.

That is to say a successful brand is a substantial asset to the companies. Emperical report

shows that Microsoft estimate value is $57 billion and that of IBM is $44 billion and estimate

the brand value of Coca-Cola is $84 billion, (Morris, 1996). There is no doubt that those

companies are benefited from its branding strategies. In fact, branding is defined as the

enterprise of creating added value in the minds of consumers, which is to build perceived

values beyond the observable physical value of the product, and thus differentiating the

product in a highly competitive environment (Aaker, 1995).

The aim of branding is to help customers to identify products that are relevant for them, and

so take much of the anxiety out of decision making (Harris, 2002). As the business

environment is teemed with competition and more sophisticated customers, superior products

with only physical attributes is not enough to maintain and attract consumers. Thus, firms

must build effective branding strategies to help consumers organize their knowledge about

certain products and service, and convince the customers what are firm’s meaningful

advantages among the different brands.

As Hankinson and Cowking (1996) argued to build up a strong brand is one of the ways in

which a company can develop and sustain advantage over its competitors, and thereby

maintain or increase its sales or market share. In other words, the stronger the consumer

identification of the brand, the stronger the relationship firms have with consumers and

therefore the brand effect on purchase. In fact, branding can be seen as a process of building

and developing corresponding marketing strategies based on firms’ resource and capability

aiming to communicate certain brand to targets effectively an consistently thereby

influencing the consumer behaviour (Jones, 1986).

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Thus, in a competitive market environment, firms need to strengthen the relationship

between the consumer and the brand as that reflects the fit between the consumer’s own

physical and psychological needs and the brand’s functional attributes and symbolic values as

perceived by the consumer. Hence, firms need to create customer-based brand equity (a topic

explored in the next section) by branding to obtain the competitive advantages.

Consequently, a high degree of brand equity among the consumers is an important goal of

marketing strategy. Thus, it is necessary to discuss how brand equity affects consumers

buying behaviour.

1.7.Brand awareness and its effect on consumer behaviour

1.7.1.What is brand awareness?

According to Aaker (1991, p61), brand awareness is “the ability of a potential buyer to

recognize or recall that a brand is a member of a certain product category”. That is to say,

brand awareness is the capability of knowledge and identification of certain brand retrieved

under some situations. Aaker further points out that Awareness is measured according to the

different ways in which consumers remember a brand, ranging from recognition to recall to

‘top of mind’ to dominant (Aaker, 2002). As Chernatony and McDonald (2003,p444) said

“brand recognition refers to the consumer’s ability to recall previous exposure or experience

with the brand, brand recall refers to the consumer’s ability to retrieve the brand from

memory when given the product category as a cue”.

In the agreement, Baker (2000) states that brand awareness refers to the strength of presence

of a brand in the consumers mind and the extent to which they are able to recognize or recall

a brand name. In other words, the brand awareness is how much consumer’s familiar with the

brand. Moreover, Hoeffler and Keller (2002) argues that brand awareness is more than just

customers knowing the brand name, it may to some extent refers to the customers’

knowledge about the certain brand such as name, logo as well as its association. As Kotler

and Keller (2006) said it is consumers’ ability to identify the brand under different

conditions, as reflected by their brand recognition or recall performance.

1.7.2.Brand awareness effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker (1991), brand awareness has significant impact on the consumer buying

behaviour. Firstly, a high level of awareness of a brand that consumers have, the high level

the brand will be considered when they choose to buy (Aaker,1991). It is because in relation

to the consumer buying process, brand awareness plays an important role when have

intention to buy something for needs. Pitta and Katsanis (1995) point out that in the classic

consumer behaviour model, consumers who recognize a problem needed to be served always

engage in routine product choice when they have high level of that product category’s brand

awareness; in more specific it is related to the brand recall, or at least considering that brand

as alternative product choice. That is to say, on the one hand, consumers always are passive

recipient of product information and are reluctant to spend much time and effort for choosing

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brand (Hoyer 1984).

Therefore, the brand awareness will lead them to choose most familiar brand that they have

knowledge of; on the other hand, in fact, in the consumer decision making process,

consumers always have many alternatives to be considered. Because recall determines which

alternatives are generated, those not recalled cannot be part of the consideration set of

products, thus, the recalled brand will have the advantage to be the opportunity last choice.

Thus, brand awareness is crucial to getting into this consideration set as the brand lacks of the

awareness may not has the opportunity to be considered for buying.

For example, if a consumer wants to buy a laptop, the first brands that come up to the

consumer’s mind will have an advantage, which will be considered to buy. The same point is

also presented by Kotler and Keller (2006) that is a high level of brand awareness might

affect consumer choices among brands in the consideration set and the product category,

even if there are no other associations linked to those brands. That is to say, brand awareness

is sufficient to result in more favourable consumer response, for example, consumers are

more likely to base their choices merely on familiar brands.

Second, brand awareness provides a brand with a sense of familiarity, which is brand

recognition and people like the familiar (Keller,1998). In other words, the consumers will be

stimulated by the familiarity of such brand when they want to purchase something. Moreover,

brand awareness can serve to brand extension (Hoyer and brown, 1990). That is to say when

firm develop sub-brand for products, the more awareness of host-brand will lead to the

acceptance of this sub-brand.

This will result in the increase of the sales. Diet Coke is a good example, which sales benefits

from the Coke brand. Therefore, the more the consumer is aware of the product, the greater

the possibility that the consumer will purchase the product (Grover and Sinvasan, 1992).

Briefly, brand awareness offers the effectively competitive difference among the products

that have the similar features.

1.8.Perceived quality and its effect on consumer behaviour

1.8.1.What is perceived quality?

Perceived quality can be defined as “the customer’s perception of the overall quality or

superiority of a product or service with respect to its intended purpose, relative to

alternatives” (Aaker, 1991 p7). It is a higher-level abstraction rather than a specific attribute

of a product. Various attributes and relevant benefits create a perception of quality in

consumer’s mind. In other words, perceived quality is the consumer’s judgement about a

product’s overall excellence or superiority. It is a significant factor in building brand equity

(Keller, 1998).

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1.8.2.Perceived quality effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker (1991), first of all, a brand’s perceived quality provides the value for

consumers to buy such brand’s products. It is because consumers always make buying

decisions rely on the feeling of the basic characteristics of the product to which the brand is

attached such as the reliability of the product since they always cannot experience the product

before they buy it.

Namely, perceived quality is related to the consumer purchasing decision making process. In

other words, consumer always prefer to donate less time and effort for gaining the

information which can assess the products’ quality, as a result, the observation of the certain

brand might be a determination of the final decision making (Aaker,1996).

Occasionally, consumers may not be able to possess the access or not be able to judge the

information about the product’s quality. Thus, perceived quality becomes the important factor

affecting the final brand choice. On the other hand, through the buying decision making

process, the perceived quality can contribute to the evaluation stage (Keller, 1998). The

consideration sets of the brands will be narrow down when the above conditions occurs. In

the agreement, Sethuraman and Cole (1997) assert that perceived quality is central to the

theory that a strong perceived quality adds value to consumers’ purchase evaluations and

willing to pay for a brand.

Secondly, a perceived quality may result in a willingness of consumer for buying a brand for

a price premium. That is to say, if a brand’s perceived quality is good in mind of customers,

then the customer may be more willing to buy such brand even the brand’s price is higher

then others.

Therefore, it will create a premium profits for the firm compared to other firms, which can

indeed provide resources with which to reinvest in the brand, such as R&D activities, brand

enhancing activities. As Sethuraman and Cole (1997) state that perceived quality explains a

considerable portion of the variance in the price premium consumers are willing to pay for

well-known brands.

Moreover, perceived quality can also be meaningful to retailers, distributors, and other

channel members (Aaker,1996). Obviously, the channel members are motivated to carry

brands that are well-regarded, which customers want. Therefore, well perceived quality will

gain greater trade cooperation and support (Keller, 1998) and in turn adds the customer base.

In addition, perceived quality can be exploited by introducing brand extensions, using the

brand name to enter new product categories (Aaker,1996). In other words, well brand with

respect to perceived quality will have higher success probability than a weaker brand in terms

of brand extension as the consumer would appreciate that brand’s product, which in turn

elicits more purchasing behaviour.

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Briefly, perceived quality is usually at the heart of what consumers are buying, enhanced

perceived quality adds a convincible reason for consumers to make final purchase decision.

1.9. Brand association and its effect on consumer behaviour

1.9.1.What is brand association?

Aaker (1991, p109) claims that “brand association is the category of a brand’s implications

which include anything ‘linked’ in memory to a brand”. Keller (1998) defines brand

associations as informational nodes linked to the brand in consumer’s mind, which will

transfer the meaning to consumer for that brand. Aaker (1996) further argues that a set of

brand associations compose the brand image, which is organized in some meaningful way.

Moreover, Keller (1998) states that brand association can be classified into three major

scopes including attributes, benefits, and attitudes. According to Keller (1998), attributes

refer to descriptive characteristics that consumers think of in the mind towards certain

brand’s product, which is formed by product-related attributes, non-product-related attributes,

feeling and experiences, and brand personality; benefits is related how consumers value the

offer of a brand’s products, namely, it is the perception of consumers about what the products

can do for them; attitudes are defined as the overall evaluation of a brand, which is most

important in consumer’s brand choice decision making.

Lamb Jr and Low (2000) further argues that brand association can be measured by the brand

image, brand attitude and perceived quality. The brand image is defined by the Dobni and

Zinkhan (1990) is the reasoned or emotional perceptions consumers attach to specific brands.

In line with the Dohni and Zinkhan, Keller (1998, p93) suggest that “brand image is the

perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations held in consumer memory”.

Up to the present, we can find that the brand association is related to the consumer’s concept

and feeling about the belief that attributable to the brand. It can also see as brand identity,

which can be divided in three perspectives in the brand: value, brand personality and

organisational associations (Aaker, 1996). Aaker (1996) argued that the first one is linked to

the functional benefits of the brand, which are the performance capabilities of the product.

The second one can enable people to express their own self, or dimensions of the self through

using the brand because consumers have multiple roles, which result in a consumer feeling

that the brand is relevant to my kind of product (Keller, 1998). The third one can reflect

something about the producer’s value or represent a certain culture, and is often the base for

differentiation and consumer preferences (Aaker,1996).

19

1.9.2.Brand association effect on consumer behaviour

According to Aaker (1991), brand association can help customer process information. In the

reality, consumers may not have process and access to perceive or obtain some facts about

the brands, and to communicate such things may high cost for the companies. Therefore, the

brand with high level of association will contribute to facilitate consumer for gaining the

meaning of the brand. For example, the Volvo brand always is associated with safety,

however, such meanings is difficult for customers to perceive before they have experience.

Therefore, Volvo is benefited from such brand association for retrieving the information in

mind of consumers. However, it depends on the past marketing investment towards that

brand. On the other hand, brand association can help consumers retrieve the information

about certain brand (Aaker,1991). That is to say, if a brand associates with something, the

consumer will easily reflect such things in the mind when they confront the brand in some

situations.

Brand association also involve product attributes or customer benefits that provide a specific

reason to buy and use the brand (Aaker,1991).

They also represent a basis for purchase decisions and brand loyalty. For example, Colgate

provides clean, white teeth. Some associations influence purchase decisions by providing

credibility and confidence in the brand. That is to say, customers regard the brand association

to some extent as references, which making them feel more comfortable for purchasing that

brand. As Kolter (2003) further argued that the brand associations convey not only the

concept but also the meaning of the product in terms of how it fulfils a customer’s needs.

What is more, brand association create positive attitudes and feelings, which can lead

consumers to specific brand (Aaker,1991). Namely, not only the recognition of the fulfilment

of needs of the certain product can trigger the consumer buying behaviour but also the

abstract needs for express consumer’s emotion from the brand. (Dobni and Zinkhan 1990).

1.10.Brand loyalty & its effect on consumer behaviour

1.10.1.What is brand loyalty?

Brand loyalty has been defined as the inclination of a customer to keep on purchasing the

same brand (Collin et al, 1991). Dick and Basu (1994) stated that brand loyalty is the strength

of the relationship between an individual’s attitude towards a brand and repeat purchasing.

Schiffman and Kanuk (1997) described a consistent preference and purchase of the same

brand in a specific service or product category as brand loyalty. Gilbert (2003) defined it as

consumers purchasing the same brand of product on most occasions or on a regular basis.

Therefore, as the definitions above-mentioned, brand loyalty exist when a customer buy one

brand of product or service again and again. Aaker (1991) argued that brand loyalty of the

20

consumer base is the core of a brand’s equity, which is critical to maintain brand equity.

1.10.2.Brand loyalty effect on consumer behaviour

On the one hand, brand loyalty will lead consumers to purchase the same brand’s products

(Aaker, 1991), which will in turn reduces the marketing costs of doing business. Kolter et al

(2000) argued that it costs the average company six times more to attract a new customer than

to hold a current one. It is because potential new customers usually lack motivation to change

from current brands as change a brand often has risks from them. Reichheld (1996) argued

that a successful brand introduces stability into the business, once customers have made a

decision about a brand and its associations, they are often loyal to that brand, continue to buy

it in the future, recommend it to friends, and choose the products over others, even those with

better features or lower prices. Consequently, it will increase the profitability for the firm.

On the other hand, brand loyalty can contribute to the maintaining of the market share as

other companies enter the market. It is because the loyal consumer will insist to the brand

they previously choose as they are risk aversion and want to avoid swishing cost. As Raj

(1985) said the more loyal customers the firms have, the more stable the brand’s market

share and the less vulnerable it will be to competitive.

Moreover, brand loyalty can help firms attracting new customers. Keller (1998) states that a

customer base with segments that are satisfied and others that like the brand can provide

assurance to a prospective customer, especially when the purchase is somewhat risky. It is

because the acceptance of the brand by a group of existing customers can be an effective

message through world of mouth effect. It can also create brand awareness from the customer

base, which in turn path a way for attracting new customers (Punj, 2004).

Finally, brand loyalty provides a firm with time to respond to competitive moves

(Aaker,1991). For example, if a competitor develops a superior product, a loyal following

will allow the firm time needed for the product improvements to be matched or neutralized as

loyal, satisfied customers will not be looking for new products, and thus may not learn of

advancement.

Briefly, brand loyalty will result in consumers continue to buy the brand in the future,

recommend it to friends, and choose the products over others, even those with better features

or lower prices.

21

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Laptop & PC Industry is expected to grow fast in developing countries like India & china

because of changes in government policies. In 2005, Indian government removed the

import duties on Laptops, which resulted in growth of 94% in 2005. (Physorg.com, 2006)

Cyber Media Research (2011) study states that nearly 10 million desktop & notebook

personal computers have been installed in 2010 and thus India has estimated to cross 52

million till Dec 2010 for total installation of both.

IDC is India’s quarterly PC sales marker, for the quarter ending in Oct-Dec 2010, it

suggested that Indian PC market had found recovery from the effect of global recession.

Compared to last quarter of 2009, Laptop market has seen the growth of 49%, while with

compare to 3rd

quarter it has decreased by 7% because of High inflation & low industrial

growth. (Shinde J.) According to Vadlamani S.(2011), Desktop & laptop market has

achieved the growth of 6% (2.6 million units) in India in first quarter of 2011. the growth

was driven by laptop vendor by 23%. Top five brands are Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo and

HCL with combined market share of 57.5%.

IDC(2011) wrote that, in the second quarter of 2011, the sales of laptop & desktops has

decreased by 4.2% at 2.44 million units, compared to Q1 2011; Dell has again leaded the

market share by 17.4%, while top 5 companies cumulating 60% market share; companies are

targeting tier-3 & tier-4 cities now through large-format retails.

According to Pinki Sharma, The entire study shows that Laptop usage is very much popular

in between the students whether their residential status is urban and rural. It’s the present day

demand to run hand with the latest technology. This technology not only simplify students

task but it also seem to morale boost up of the students. Students found themselves connected

with the entire world with the help of Laptops.

According to Dr. Nilesh B. Gajjar, The study of Consumer Behaviour is quite complex,

because of many variables involved and their tendency to interact with & influence each

other. These are the factors controlled by external environments like the following form the

basis of external influences over the mind of a customer (outer circle).

Culture, and Sub-culture,

Social Class, and Social Group,

Family, and Inter-Personal Influences,

22

Other Influences (which are not categorised by any of the above six, like

geographical, political, economical, religious environment, etc.).

According to Rinal B.Shah, The research was aimed to examine the applicability of Aaker’s

conceptual framework of customer-based brand equity for laptop brands in Indian market.

Here the findings don’t support completely to the entire brand equity dimensions of Aaker’s

model, it was found that perceived quality and brand loyalty had a significant positive direct

effect on brand equity. It had the strongest impact which indicated the essential role of

development of perceived quality and brand loyalty in minds of customers to build brand

equity for laptop brands.

Wahida Farzana said, The purpose of the study is to explore how consumers’ psychological

factors (Motivation, perception, and attitude) are associated with brand equity (brand loyalty,

brand association, perceived quality, and brand awareness) of laptop. The result revealed that,

consumers’ motivation to use laptop and brand association criteria work separately .

Like other products, consumers’ perception for choosing laptop relies upon different sources

of information. In this particular case, they choose newspaper and websites to build up their

perception. Though newspaper and websites play the vital role for organizing, evaluating

information, they rarely help them to choose the brand.

According to Vijay R. Kulkarni, Brand & Features, Price, Visibility & Service Center,

Reliability & Responsiveness, Warranty, Guarantee & After Sales Service, are the factors

which impact the buying behavior of the post graduates students.

According to Adrijit Basu, There is cut throat competitions in the market on price front and

so they have to find out better quality and low cost product. The characteristic of this specific

industry is that the marketing defines, creates and forms the goods and their target groups.

Ability to meet changing technology, customer’s needs and styling and shortening product

life cycle are the challenges that laptop manufacturing companies will have to face.

23

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1. Research Objective

3.1.1. Primary objective

A study on Student’s Buying Behavior towards laptops.

3.1.2. Secondary objective

To know the preference of students while purchasing of laptops.

To know the perception of students towards laptops.

To study the buying pattern of students while purchasing of laptops.

3.2. Scope of the study

This report is limited to survey area in kadi sarva vishwavidyalaya, Gandhinagar.

3.3. Research Design

The research design is Descriptive studies. Descriptive studies are well structured, they tend

to be rigid and its approach cannot be changed every now and then.

Descriptive studies are undertaken in many circumstances.

When the researcher is interested in knowing the characteristics of certain groups such

as age, profession.

When the researcher is interested in knowing the proportion of people in given

population who have behaved in a particular manner, making projection of certain

things.

VPO --> P/D G S B D G S B

Availability of Sparkling 200 ml [Diamond/Gold (Cola + 3) ; Silver/Bronze (Cola

+ 2)] - Min 6 bottles of each SKU Chilled 20 20 23 28 23 23 28 28

Availability of Sparkling CAN (330ml) or Xpress (350ml) [Diamond/Gold (Cola

+1) - Min 4 CANs/ 6 bottles of each SKU Chilled 3 3

Availability of Sparkling Mobile (600 ML) [Diamond (Cola + 3), Gold (Cola + 2),

Silver/ Bronze (Cola + 1)] - Min 4 bottles of each SKU Chilled 10 10 10 14 10 10 14 14

Availability of Fridge Pack 1.25 ltr [Diamond/Gold (Cola +2), Silver/Bronze

(Cola +1)] - Min 2 bottles of each SKU. Chilled if the VC size >=9 caser5 5 5 5 5

Availability of chilled brand Coke: [Min 3 facings of RGB/CAN/Xpress/Mob with

min 4 bottles/CANs per facing] {Facings of any 1 pack}5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Availability of Juice RGB 200ml or 250ml - [Min 6 bottles Chilled] 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Availability of Juice Tetra 200ml - [Min 6 packs Chilled] 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Availability of Juice Mobile [Diamond / Gold (2 flavours)) ; Silver/Bronze (1

flavour)] - Min 4 bottles of each SKU Chilled 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Availability of Water PET 1 Ltr - Min 2 bottles Chilled 4 4 4 4 4

Chilled Facings of RGB (inside Visi-Cooler) - Lead Cola, Flavour and Maaza

(Min 3 facings of each in Diamond/Gold, Min 2 facings of each in Silver/Bronze).

Should have Min 4 bottles per facings

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Availability Total 65 65 65 65 65 65 65 65

RED Norm for 2011E&D Type-1 & Convenience

Hi+Med Inc Class Low Inc Class

24

The objective of this kind of study is to answer the why, who, what, when and how of the

subject under consideration.

I have taken descriptive because my research includes the knowing the behavior of customer

towards Laptop. I have analyzed how people of various age groups respond towards laptop or

their perception towards laptop.

Data collection

Primary data collected: Online Questionnaires

Secondary data collected: Internet

Research instruments: Questionnaire

3.4. Sample design

Sample size: 100

Sampling type: For this purpose of research Convenient/

non probability sampling approach has been used. Non probability

sampling is arbitrary and subjectiv

3.5. Limitations

Respondents were reluctant to share their experience accurately.

Few Customers are hesitate to deliver some information due to the time wasted in the

providing the same.

Due to time constraints it is not possible to cover vast area. So that survey has limited

to Kadi Sarva Vishwavidyalaya, Gandhinagar.

25

Chapter 4

Data Analysis And Data Interpretation

4.1. Section-1: Consumer profile

As per the graph above,

the 78% of the population are Males and 22% are the females.

Male 78%

Female 22%

Q.1 : Gender: Male Female

26


the 3% of the population fall in 16-20 age group, 94% of the population is falling in

21-25 age group and 3% of the population is falling in 25 & above age group.

3

94

3 0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

16-20 21-25 Above 25

Q.2 : Age: 1. 16-20 2. 21-25 3. Over 25

27


48% of students are from MBA, 3% from MCA,12% from BCA, 18% from BBA,

11% from B.Tech, 1% from B.Pharm and 7% are from other courses.

MBA 48%

BBA 18%

BCA 12%

MCA 3%

B.Tech 11%

B.Pharm 1%

Others 7%

Q.3 : Please indicate the course you are in? 1. M.B.A 2. M.C.A 3. B.C.A 4. B.B.A 5. B.Pharm 6. B.Tech 7. Others

28


78% students have laptop and rest 22% are not having a laptop.

78%

22%

Q.4 : Do you own a laptop now? 1. Yes 2. No

yes no

29

4.2. Section-2: Please select the answer that most corresponds to your opinion in each question.

1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Neutral 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree


90% respondents are agreed with the question, that they recognize the famous brands

in the market and 10% are not sure about it.

Stongly agree 22%

agree 68%

neutral 8%

Disagree 1%

Strongly Disagree 1%

Q.5 : Do you recognize most of the famous laptop brand in the market?

30


85% of respondents are agreed with the question, that they prefer the famous brands

in the market and 15% are not sure about it or disagreed with it.

Stongly agree 5%

agree 80%

neutral 6%

Disagree 8%

Strongly Disagree

1%

Q.6 : In the case that there are many laptop brands in the market, you would prefer the

one is well-known?

31


66% of the respondents are agreed with the question that they will choose the famous

brand inspite the other brands offer the same features and 22% of the respondents are

neutral and the rest 12% of the respondents says that they disagree with the question.

Stongly agree 11%

agree 55%

neutral 22%

Disagree 12%

Strongly Disagree

0%

Q.7 : You will choose a well-known brand when the other brands offer similar feature or

price?

32


56% of the respondents are agreed with the question that well known brands presents

advance in innovation whereas 35% of the respondents remains neutral and 9% of the

respondents disagree with the question.

Stongly agree

9%

agree 47%

neutral 35%

Disagree 8%


Q.8 : Do you agree well-known brands present advance in innovation?

33


71% of the respondents are agreed that well known brands represents the better

quality whereas 24% of respondents remain neutral and the rest 5% disagree with the

question.

Stongly agree 17%

agree 54%

neutral 24%

Disagree 4%


Q.9 : Do you agree well-known brands represent better quality?

34


55% of the respondents are agreed with the question that they will purchase a well

known brand even they need to pay the price premium whereas 35% of the

respondents remains neutral and 10% of the respondents are disagreed with this.

Stongly agree 14%

agree 41%

neutral 35%

Disagree 10%

Strongly Disagree

0%

Q.10 : You will purchase a well-known brand because well-known brands represent better

quality and service even you need to pay a price premium?

35


54% of the respondents are agreed that branded laptops can match their lifestyle

where 32% of the respondents remains neutral and 14% of the respondents showed

their disagreeness.

Stongly agree 12%

agree 42%

neutral 32%

Disagree 14%


Q.11: Do you agree a well-known laptop brand can match your lifestyle?

36


51% of the respondents are agreed with the question whereas the 36% of the

respondents remains neutral and 13% of the respondents disagreed to it.

Stongly agree 9%

agree 42%

neutral 36%

Disagree 13%

Strongly Disagree

0%

Q.12 : Do you agree the well-known brands present better value (such as attributes, services) for money over competitors?

37


69% of the respondents are agreed that the well known brands reflect their self image

and personality whereas 18% stayed neutral and the rest 13% of the respondents are

disagree with this question.

Stongly agree

9%

agree 60%

neutral 18%

Disagree 12%

Strongly Disagree

1%

Q.13 : Do you agree the well-known brands’ image can somewhat reflect your own self-

image and personality?

38


19% of the respondents are agree that they will rely on the brands image in doing their

decisions whereas 45% of the respondents remains neutral and 36% are disagreed.

Stongly agree 4%

agree 15%

neutral 45%

Disagree 36%


Q.14 : You will rely on the laptop’s brand image than its actual attributes in decision making?

39


31% of the respondents are agreed that they buy laptops on the special occasions

whereas 20% of the respondents are neutral and 49% of the respondents are disagreed

with it.

Stongly agree

9%

agree 22%

neutral 20%

Disagree 31%


Q.15 : You prefer to buy the laptop on special occasions?

40


20% of the respondents are agreed that they buy the laptop online without seeing in

person whereas 20% of the respondents remains neutral and 60% of the respondents

says that they will not buy laptop without seeing in person.

Stongly agree 3%

agree 17%

neutral 20%

Disagree 33%


Q.16 : Do you mind buying online without seeing the laptop in person?

41


48% of the respondents are agreed to that laptops looks & stylishness are important to

them whereas 23% of the respondents remains neutral and 29% of the respondents

disagreed.

Stongly agree 20%

agree 28% neutral

23%

Disagree 21%


Q.17 : The laptop's looks and stylishness important to you?

42


80% of the respondents are agreed with the question that they search the various

factors before buying whereas 12% of the respondents are neutral and 8% of the

respondents are disagree.

Stongly agree 29%

agree 51%

neutral 12%

Disagree 8%


Q.18 : Before purchasing, you search for various factors of laptop like attributes, price etc from various sources like internet, friends etc?

43


74% of the respondents are agreed that they are satisfied with their past purchase

where as 21% remains neutral and 5% are disagreed with the question.

Stongly agree 18%

agree 56%

neutral 21%

Disagree 5%


Q.19 : You are satisfied with your past purchase for a laptop?

44


67% of the respondents are agreed with the question whereas 26% remains neutral

and 7% are disagreed with it.

Stongly agree 14%

agree 53%

neutral 26%

Disagree 6%


Q.20 : You will recommend your friends with your favourite laptop brand when they consider purchasing a laptop?

45


42% of the respondents are agreed that they will buy the same brand on their net

purchase whereas 46% of the respondents remains neutral and 12% of the respondents

said no.

Stongly agree 10%

agree 32%

neutral 46%

Disagree 12%


Q.21 : You would buy the same brand of laptop when you consider purchasing a second

laptop?

46

FACTOR

/VARIABLES Question1 Question2 Question3 Question4 Question5 Question6 Question7 Question8 Questio

n9 Question10 Question11 Questio

n12 Question13 Question14 Question15 Question16 Question17

/MISSING LISTWISE

/ANALYSIS Question1 Question2 Question3 Question4 Question5 Question6 Question7 Question8 Question9

Question10 Question11 Question

12 Question13 Question14 Question15 Question16 Question17

/PRINT UNIVARIATE INITIAL CORRELATION KMO EXTRACTION ROTATION

/FORMAT SORT BLANK(.5)

/PLOT EIGEN

/CRITERIA MINEIGEN(1) ITERATE(25)

/EXTRACTION PC

/CRITERIA ITERATE(25)

/ROTATION VARIMAX

/SAVE REG(ALL)

/METHOD=CORRELATION.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - F A C T O R A N A L Y S I S - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Factor Analysis

[DataSet0]

Descriptive Statistics

Mean Std. Deviation Analysis N

Do you recognize most of the famous laptop

brand in the market. 4.0769 .67937 78

In the case that there are many laptop

brands in the market, you would prefer the

one is well-known.

3.8846 .78923 78

47

You will choose a well-known brand when

the other brands offer similar feature or

price.

3.6667 .83225 78

Do you agree well-known brands present

advance in innovation. 3.5513 .81619 78

Do you agree well-known brands represent

better quality. 3.8077 .80675 78

You will purchase a well-known brand

because well-known brands represent better

quality and service even you need to pay a

price premium.

3.5897 .85942 78

Do you agree a well-known laptop brand can

match your lifestyle. 3.5256 .87867 78

Do you agree the well-known brands present

better value (such as attributes, services) for

money over competitors.

3.4744 .83315 78

Do you agree the well-known brands’ image

can somewhat reflect your own self-image

and personality.

3.6410 .85241 78

You will rely on the laptop’s brand image

than its actual attributes in decision making. 3.0256 .82138 78

You prefer to buy the laptop on special

occasions. 2.6282 1.21793 78

Do you mind buying online without seeing the

laptop in person. 2.3462 1.12616 78

The laptop’s looks and stylishness important

to you. 3.3333 1.23443 78

Before purchasing, you search for various

factors of laptop like attributes, price etc from

various sources like internet, friends etc.

4.0256 .85241 78

You are satisfied with your past purchase for

a laptop. 3.8718 .76207 78

48

You will recommend your friends with your

favourite laptop brand when they consider

purchasing a laptop.

3.7179 .83584 78

You would buy the same brand of laptop

when you consider purchasing a second

laptop.

3.4103 .82864 78

KMO and Bartlett's Test

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy. .698

Bartlett's Test of Sphericity Approx. Chi-Square 451.028

df 136

Sig. .000

Communalities

Initial Extraction

Do you recognize most of the famous laptop brand in the

market. 1.000 .623

In the case that there are many laptop brands in the

market, you would prefer the one is well-known. 1.000 .700

You will choose a well-known brand when the other brands

offer similar feature or price. 1.000 .701

Do you agree well-known brands present advance in

innovation. 1.000 .676

Do you agree well-known brands represent better quality. 1.000 .555

You will purchase a well-known brand because well-known

brands represent better quality and service even you need

to pay a price premium.

1.000 .589

49

Do you agree a well-known laptop brand can match your

lifestyle. 1.000 .601

Do you agree the well-known brands present better value

(such as attributes, services) for money over competitors. 1.000 .594

Do you agree the well-known brands’ image can somewhat

reflect your own self-image and personality. 1.000 .749

You will rely on the laptop’s brand image than its actual

attributes in decision making. 1.000 .565

You prefer to buy the laptop on special occasions. 1.000 .485

Do you mind buying online without seeing the laptop in

person. 1.000 .603

The laptop’s looks and stylishness important to you. 1.000 .725

Before purchasing, you search for various factors of laptop

like attributes, price etc from various sources like internet,

friends etc.

1.000 .723

You are satisfied with your past purchase for a laptop. 1.000 .769

You will recommend your friends with your favourite laptop

brand when they consider purchasing a laptop. 1.000 .750

You would buy the same brand of laptop when you

consider purchasing a second laptop. 1.000 .611

Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis.

50

Total Variance Explained

Component

Initial Eigenvalues

Extraction Sums of Squared

Loadings Rotation Sums of Squared Loadings

Total

% of

Variance

Cumulative

% Total

% of

Variance

Cumulative

% Total % of Variance

Cumulative

%

1 4.385 25.796 25.796 4.385 25.796 25.796 2.728 16.048 16.048

2 2.208 12.986 38.782 2.208 12.986 38.782 2.587 15.215 31.263

3 1.894 11.141 49.923 1.894 11.141 49.923 2.496 14.682 45.945

4 1.474 8.669 58.592 1.474 8.669 58.592 1.683 9.901 55.846

5 1.058 6.222 64.814 1.058 6.222 64.814 1.525 8.968 64.814

6 .917 5.392 70.206

7 .835 4.914 75.121

8 .762 4.480 79.601

9 .667 3.925 83.526

10 .509 2.995 86.520

11 .488 2.873 89.393

12 .436 2.564 91.958

13 .361 2.123 94.080

14 .308 1.815 95.895

15 .261 1.533 97.428

16 .232 1.365 98.793

17 .205 1.207 100.000

Extraction Method: Principal Component

Analysis.

51

Component Matrixa

Component

1 2 3 4 5

You will purchase a well-known brand because

well-known brands represent better quality and

service even you need to pay a price premium.

.746

Do you agree well-known brands represent

better quality. .666

Do you agree well-known brands present

advance in innovation. .661

Do you agree a well-known laptop brand can

match your lifestyle. .615

52

You would buy the same brand of laptop when

you consider purchasing a second laptop. .594

Do you agree the well-known brands present

better value (such as attributes, services) for

money over competitors.

.591

Do you agree the well-known brands’ image

can somewhat reflect your own self-image and

personality.

.563 .542

You will choose a well-known brand when the

other brands offer similar feature or price. .525

The laptop’s looks and stylishness important to

you. .512

Do you mind buying online without seeing the

laptop in person.

.709

Before purchasing, you search for various

factors of laptop like attributes, price etc from

various sources like internet, friends etc.

-.632

You will rely on the laptop’s brand image than

its actual attributes in decision making.

.542

In the case that there are many laptop brands

in the market, you would prefer the one is well-

known.

-.523

You are satisfied with your past purchase for a

laptop.

.723

You will recommend your friends with your

favourite laptop brand when they consider

purchasing a laptop.

.559 .561

You prefer to buy the laptop on special

occasions.

.514

Do you recognize most of the famous laptop

brand in the market.

.505


53

a. 5 components extracted.

Rotated Component Matrixa

Component

1 2 3 4 5

Do you agree well-known brands present advance in innovation. .794

You will choose a well-known brand when the other brands offer

similar feature or price. .769

In the case that there are many laptop brands in the market, you

would prefer the one is well-known. .693

Do you agree well-known brands represent better quality. .634

Do you agree the well-known brands’ image can somewhat reflect

your own self-image and personality.

.859

Do you agree a well-known laptop brand can match your lifestyle. .737

The laptop’s looks and stylishness important to you. .647

You will purchase a well-known brand because well-known brands

represent better quality and service even you need to pay a price

premium.

You are satisfied with your past purchase for a laptop. .875

You will recommend your friends with your favourite laptop brand

when they consider purchasing a laptop.

.826

You would buy the same brand of laptop when you consider

purchasing a second laptop.

.647

You will rely on the laptop’s brand image than its actual attributes in

decision making.

.636

Do you recognize most of the famous laptop brand in the market. -.599

You prefer to buy the laptop on special occasions.

54

Before purchasing, you search for various factors of laptop like

attributes, price etc from various sources like internet, friends etc.

.792

Do you mind buying online without seeing the laptop in person. -.622

Do you agree the well-known brands present better value (such as

attributes, services) for money over competitors.


Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 8 iterations.

Component Transformation Matrix

Component 1 2 3 4 5

1 .633 .594 .483 .110 .025

2 -.144 .279 -.276 .674 -.608

3 -.419 -.260 .828 .214 -.158

4 -.633 .707 .003 -.238 .209

5 -.050 -.046 -.067 .656 .749


Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

After performing the factor analysis, there are some points which are focused. They are as

follows:-

As KMO value is 0.698 which is approximately equal to 7, we can say that the data is

adequate.

Through the rotated component matrix, the factors we can extract are:

I. Brand Awareness

II. Perceived Quality

III. Brand Loyalty

55

CHAPTER-5

CONCLUSION

Here, in this study the respondents are the students. The respondents are 100 in which 78%

are male and 22% are females. Most of the respondents fall in the 21-24 age category which

is 94% and rest from 16-20 &25 above are having just 3-3%. Around 65% students are

agreeing to their knowledge of brand awareness, in terms of perceived quality there is 50%

respondents who are agreeing whereas around 45% of respondents are giving their vote to

agree on brand association and on brand loyalty the number is upto 45%.

The students prefer to buy the laptops when reach in the college or when there is a need for a

laptop to them. From the study I can say that mostly management and engineering students

are having the need of laptop and rest of them do have but not as compare to management

students.

56

CHAPTER-6

FINDINGS

The consumer decision-making process and resulting preferences and buying behaviour are

influenced by internal– as well as external factors. The internal factors consist of factors such

as needs and motivation. Students indicated that they have physical needs for food (groceries

and fast food) as well as clothing. They also value friendship (social needs) and want to

improve their education. These basic and more advanced needs are the driving force behind

the shopping behaviour of students. Other factors like age, lifestyle, learning and personality

also play a role. Emotions, like the experiencing of guilt after an unplanned purchase, also

influence their behaviour.

External factors consist of culture, social class, and family/household and reference groups.

One of the important external factors is groups (friends & family).

I. The majority of students like to shop with shopping companions. Their first

choice is friends, followed by family members.

II. The majority of students usually do not buy the same brands as their friends or

family members.

III. Students indicated that they usually play the roles of information

searchers/gatherers and product users in their households.

IV. Students search for information to obtain a better price and when they plan to buy

expensive products.

V. The majority of students’ decision-making style is quality consciousness, followed

by price sensitiveness and services orientation.

VI. Students make use of the brand first and outlet second sequence in their decision-

making.

57

CHAPTER-7

LIMITATIONS

In this research, there are some limitations caused by the following reasons.

Firstly, the main limitation of the research is generated from the small size of the

sample. Under time and financial constraints, the study was performed only with a

small portion of the population for the whole population. This may influence the

generalizability of the samples and may get the incorrect results.

Secondly, the selection of the survey location has limitation. Only KSV Ghandhinagar

is selected for conducting the survey. Therefore, the result would be representative of

the users of the specific area rather than of the target population as a whole because

different cities may reflect different consumer behaviour.

Moreover, the Likert scale adopted in the questionnaire might limit the range of

options. Closed questions could cause bias by forcing respondents to choose between

certain alternative corresponding to their personal views on a particular subject.

In addition, in this study, only quantitative method is used to do the research and

statistic analysis is used to examine the topics. Thus, the result may be not depth

enough. This also caused the discussion of findings may not so accurate and in detail.

Finally, as the survey was conducted in a laptop market and the respondents were

random selected, thus, the respondents might, intentionally or unintentionally provide

inaccurate answers to the questions. Thus the findings may not be accurate.

However, care was taken throughout the study to reduce the negative impact of these

Limitations essentially the need for further research is recognized.

58

CHAPTER-8

RECOMMENDATIONS

Retailers should make use of reference group influences by focusing on friends and

family in their advertising strategies, and personal selling strategies. For example:

“Bring along a friend!”

Retailers should focus on the individuality of students, which is typical of this age

group, and steer away from advertising campaign with themes like blending in or

being like everyone else. For examples, slogans like “Be your own person” or “ For

the individual.” should appeal to students.

Retailers need to supply the relevant price information for example, retailer price,

discount or payment options, about their products, especially if they are selling

expensive products.

Retailers should make use of their knowledge of decision-making styles to segment

the market, to do niche marketing and better understand the market. Retailers should

ensure that their quality, price and services are better than the competition, in order to

gain a bigger share of the student market.

Retailers should use weekends for new product launches, competitions or promotional

campaigns.

59

ANNEXURE

QUESTIONNAIRE

I am an M.B.A student of the S.K.Patel Institute of Management & Computer Studies in the

Gandhinagar, and conducting a survey related to my dissertation that is about “A study on

Student’s Buying Behaviour towards laptops”. I would appreciate it if you would fill out the

questionnaire. Please read the following questions carefully and tick the most appropriate

answers. Thank you.

Section1: Consumer profile

1) Gender:

1. Male

2. Female

2) Age:

1. 16-20

2. 21-25

3. Over 25

3) Please indicate the course you are in?

1. M.B.A

2. M.C.A

3. B.C.A

4. B.B.A

5. B.Pharm

6. B.Tech

7. Others

4) Do you own a laptop now?

1. Yes

2. No

60

Section 2: Please select the answer that most corresponds to your opinion in each question.

1. Strongly disagree 2. Disagree 3. Neutral 4. Agree 5. Strongly agree

16. Do you mind buying online

Sr. no Questions Strongly

disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

agree

5. Do you recognize most of the

famous laptop brand in the

market?

6. In the case that there are many

laptop brands in the market, you

would prefer the one is well-

known?

7. You will choose a well-known

brand when the other brands offer

similar feature or price?

8. Do you agree well-known brands

present advance in innovation?

9. Do you agree well-known brands

represent better quality?

10. You will purchase a well-known

brand because well-known brands

represent better quality and service

even you need to pay a price

premium?

11. Do you agree a well-known laptop

brand can match your lifestyle?

12. Do you agree the well-known

brands present better value (such

as attributes, services) for money

over competitors?

13. Do you agree the well-known

brands’ image can somewhat

reflect your own self-image and

personality?

14. You will rely on the laptop’s brand

image than its actual attributes in

decision making?

15. You prefer to buy the laptop on

special occasions?

61

without seeing the laptop in

person?

17. The laptop’s looks and stylishness

important to you?

18. Before purchasing, you search for

various factors of laptop like

attributes, price etc from various

sources like internet, friends etc?

For respondents who own laptop already

19. You are satisfied with your past

purchase for a laptop?

20. You will recommend your friends

with your favourite laptop brand

when they consider purchasing a

laptop?

21. You would buy the same brand of

laptop when you consider

purchasing a second

laptop?

22) When are you buying or did you buy the laptop and how long do you want it to last?

Comment :

Thank you for your cooperation

62

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Websites:

www.google.com

www.altavista.com

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_behaviour

www.learnmarketing.net/consumer.htm

www.theglobaljournals.com/ijar/file.php?val=MTAzNQ==

Research Papers:

I. garph.co.uk/IJARMSS/Sep2012/4.pdf

II. http://digitallibrary.srmuniv.ac.in/dspace/handle/123456789/8120

III. http://www.aims-international.org/aims10/AIMS10Proceedings/PDF/P701-done.pdf

IV. http://raijmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2_10-15-Dr.-Nilesh-B.-Gajjar.pdf

V. www.gcbe.us/.../...

http://www.google.com/

http://www.altavista.com/

http://www.learnmarketing.net/consumer.htm

http://www.theglobaljournals.com/ijar/file.php?val=MTAzNQ

http://digitallibrary.srmuniv.ac.in/dspace/handle/123456789/8120

http://www.aims-international.org/aims10/AIMS10Proceedings/PDF/P701-done.pdf

http://raijmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/2_10-15-Dr.-Nilesh-B.-Gajjar.pdf

a study on students buying behavior towards laptops

Education

principal component analysis

brands offersimilar feature

therespondents remains neutral

favourite laptop brandwhen

final brand choice

brands representbetter quality

mind buying online

consumer behaviour includes