SMARTPHONE BRANDS DESIGN AND BUYING DECISION

Abstract

Abstract

The wide range of mobile phones transform the decision making process of buyers in a tough assignment. One of the conditions that a smartphone to be successful on the market, when technical services and features offered are perceived as undifferentiated, represent elements of visual impact. The design is now one of the most important agents of satisfaction of the consumer universe of experiences.

We intend to study the perception of the Romanian "Y Generation", students, about the smartphones design elements. The findings of this research study would be significant to smartphone producers, in understanding the bases for student’s preferences between Apple and Samsung brands of smartphone. The knowledge gained from this research could provide some elements to build strong brand equity and identity that would lead to increasing their sales volume.

Research Problem

The research problem refers to observing and determining the factors leading mobile phone design influence on the buying decision and positioning brands Samsung and Apple on the Romanian market, according to the perceptions of   "Y generation".

The research methodology

The research methodology includes documentary research and quantitative research using a questionnaire on the 120 respondents. The respondents ("Y Generation") are students from three faculties that exist in the North-East of Romania, Iasi City: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Law. The conducting research involved electronic survey using GoogleDocs online platform. The data were analyzed using SPSS, version, 17.0. The most recent consumer surveys (Lee & Calugar-Pop, 2015) confirm that 18 – 24 years age-group has the highest penetration in terms of smartphone ownership with 85% in Finland and the UK. We use the same type of sample because the situation is similar in Romania.