Factors Influencing Consumer Purchasing Behavior Towards Mobile Phone Brands

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the importance of brand onconsumer purchasing behavior. Based on the Behavioral Theory, this study examinesthe effect of various factors on consumers’ purchase intention among Chinese andWestern European consumers. This study contributes to previous researchesproviding general understanding of the factors affecting consumers’ motivation topurchase cell phone brands.Mobile phone market is a very dynamic market which experience greatcompetition of brands and technology development. Due to the potential of mobilephone consumer market and its fast economic growth, China has become an attractivemarketplace for many domestic and foreign brands. As a result of the changingenvironment, the young generation Chinese consumers are continuously imposed todifferent stimuli influencing their behavior. Consumer taste for brands and productsand particularly cell phones has become more sophisticated. Moreover, the effectbrands exert on consumer purchase decisions has significantly increased. Thus, it isessential to examine consumer purchasing behavior in general and the main factorsinfluencing consumer’s choice of mobile phone brands in particular.Despite the raising importance of Chinese consumer market, the existingliterature offers limited studies on the mobile phone users. To enhance theunderstanding of consumer markets a cross-national comparative study wasconducted regarding consumers from Generation Y.It is critical to gain more insights of the largest mobile phone user population, orthe so-called Generation Y. To do so it is important to make comparison between twoculturally different consumer markets like Asian and European. However, while theEuropean consumer market has long been subject to investigation Chinese consumermarket is an area that needs to be further explored.The study examined the effect of internal, external and product related factors onconsumer purchase intention. Multiple regression analysis was employed to test thehypotheses. Various factors were explored but not all were discovered to have significant influence. The results revealed that there are differences in the mainfactors influencing consumer purchase intention towards mobile phone brands.While Chinese consumers prefer fancy fashionable handset from reputablebrands that enhance their self-image, European consumers pay more attention torational economic factors such as quality and price. Common factors with significantinfluence on purchase intention for both consumer groups are the product attributes,consumer need for uniqueness and trust in brands and fashion orientation. Examiningthe impact of internal factors, findings show that they have significant influence onconsumer purchase intention for both China and Western Europe. The positiverelationship between consumers’ need for uniqueness and their purchase intentionindicates that by purchasing certain mobile phone brands young consumers tend toexpress their individuality, creativity and similarity avoidance. These findings supportthe individualistic character of European consumers, but at the same time argue thatyoung Chinese consumers consider self-esteem needs as more important than oldergenerations.Furthermore, the research findings suggest that consumers from both samplesmake their purchasing decisions partially based on the trust they have in mobilephone brands.Chinese and European consumers indicated preferences for the latest fashiondesigns cell phones. However, the impact of fashion on Chinese consumers appearedto be much stronger than that of their European counterparts.The findings further indicate that consumers consider product attributes such asappearance and design, price, quality and brand name as very important whenchoosing between mobile phone brands. Detailed analysis described Europeanconsumers as more quality oriented and Chinese ones as more price conscious. Bothconsumer groups seem to acquire cell phones with new technology features, althoughEuropean ones showed slightly stronger affinity towards technology innovativeness.Another strong motive behind the brand purchases of young Chinese consumersis the way they perceive their self-image. Evidently, Gen Y consumers purchasemobile phone brands which reflect their self-image. This act of purchase may be related to the individual’s need of self-confidence or prestige expressed by thepossession of certain brands.Regarding the strong competition on the market, is not surprising thatadvertising has significant effect on consumers’ purchase decisions. Targetingconsumers’ attention and brand awareness companies effectively communicate theirmessages through various creative advertisement campaigns. Furthermore, thefindings suggest that Chinese consumers form their final decision about which mobilephone brand to choose at spot of sale. Store ambience and sales personnel cansignificantly influence consumer purchase intention. All these marketing stimuliaffect consumers’ purchasing behavior by creating positive associations towards thebrand.Many theoretical concepts that were valid in the past are no longer sufficient toexplain consumer behavior. Nowadays, there are various internal and external factorswhich exert strong impact on consumer purchasing decisions. This study shows thatyoung consumers are observed to make more independent purchase decisions whichas well are strongly related to their psychological and high esteem needs. Thus, betterunderstanding of consumer behavior is needed. Based on the research results,marketing applications plausible for both consumer markets were provided.