A RESEARCH PAPER

ON
“IMPACT OF FAMILY MEMBERS ON
CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR: A
STUDY ON MOBILE PHONES”

SUBMITTED BY
SAMRAT DAS
Roll: 3300917014
Registration no: 173330710015
SUBMITED TO
PROF. MOUMITA SAHA
for the partial fulfillment of the requirement of Masters of
Business Administration (MBA), under
MAKAUT
(Maulana Adul Kalam Azad University of Technology )

AT
IMS BUSINESS SCHOOL

Makrampur Ghutiary Sharif Station Road, P.O- Champahati

P.S-Sonarpur South 24 pgs. Kolkata- 150, Pin- 743330
Phone:-(03218)201198, Mobile:- 0897052830
2018
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to thank the following persons and organizations for helping this
research study to see the light of day. This study would not have been completed
without them, in-spite of best efforts taken by me.

Firstly I would like to thank Prof. Tapash Ranjan Saha, Director of IMS Business
School, Makrampur, Kolkata for providing us with the chance to do Masters of
Business Administration, a course under MAKAUT (Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
University of Technology),Makrampur,Kolkata. His helping hand has always been
behind us and has helped us in countless ways to finish this research study.

Secondly I would like to thank Prof. Aparajita Roy, my coordinator at IMS Business
School, for providing me with lots of helpful guidance and patiently listening to all
my problems and finding solutions to them. I would especially thank her for
correcting my initial research problem and drive it in the direction which is seen now,
and taking classes on Presentation Preparation, and helping me to finally setup the
whole Research Study in a proper manner.

Thirdly I would like to thank Prof. Moumita Saha, my guide at IMS Business School,
for providing me countless hours of support by telephone, email and in person,
providing valuable information about the research paper, including links to websites
catering to secondary data and others, which have been absolutely indispensible for
completing this research study.

Finally I would like to thank My Colleagues at KITCHENET, Kolkata-700002, for

helping with countless odd jobs like data sorting and others, and my Mother, Ashima
Das, for allowing the use of the family car for stints of data collection and my Father,
Late: Sri Sanjay Das, for giving me large amounts of money to spend for the same.
Collective thanks go out to all the Respondents whose data have been used in this
research study, and the tea hawkers, chips shops and department stores who have
allowed us to collect information in-front of their premises.

1
 ABSTRACT

Since the inception of cellular telephones into West Bengal in 1995, the industry has
seen growth in leaps and bounds. Primarily, during the early days, the cellular device
was mainly limited to a certain number of individuals, with need and ability to stay
connected while on the move. Primary barriers which made the Cellular Phone users
an Exclusive Club were mainly the price of the handset, limited number of service
providers, high calling rates and limited number of services. However, those days are
long gone, and now everybody can afford a cellular device. With the advent of cheap
mobile devices and a large number of carriers, including the likes of BSNL,
VODAFONE, AIRTEL and others, cellular telephony have become even less than
common, it has become indispensible. With such a situation, it is necessary for a
marketer to stay updated on all the required information to make his product or
service a hit among discerning individuals owning cellular phone devices.

A primary problem faced in this context is the possible influence of family members
on the customer buying the cellular phone device. It is necessary to know this as the
customer of the cellular product is not always being the consumer of the same. The
product or service may be bought or contracted for family members. In which case,
the family members will definitely have an influence on the outcome.

This research study, attempts to minimize the guess work done by marketers before
launching a Cellular product in a market like West Bengal, where customers are
highly family or peer oriented, and may influence a number of factors like budget
allotted to cellular phone buying, choosing the Carrier, and place of purchase of the
device, by studying families shopping at various shopping locations such as a posh
Shopping Mall, to a Local Community Market and finally an open air market,
containing temporary stalls. Corresponding to which, 200 individuals were studied,
and their data analyzed and processed to obtain the final result.

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 CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………… 4

1.1: Cellular Device Market in West Bengal………………………………

1.2: Factors which accelerated Cellular growth in West Bengal………………

1.3: Customer Profiles of Cellular Device buyers in West Bengal……………..

1.4: Top 10 reasons for Cellular device purchase in West Bengal……………..

1.5: Role of cellular devices in typical West Bengal family, along with a note on
concerns expressed……………………………………………………

1.6: Further influences in cellular purchase behavior in West Bengal…………

1.7: Brief history of telecommunication in India, with Particular Reference to West

Bengal……………………………………………………………….

1.8: Emergence of India, as a major player in Telecom Sector…………………

1.9: Brief study of progressive markets in China and America and their influence
on India……………………………………………………………...

Chapter 2: Literature Review……………………………… 39

Chapter 3: Objectives………………………………………… 44

Chapter 4: Methodology……………………………………… 45

Chapter 5: Limitations………………………………………. 47

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Chapter 6: Data Analysis……………………………………. 48

Chapter 7: Research Findings……………………………… 71

Chapter 8: Scope of Further Research……………………. 73

Chapter 9: Conclusion……………………………………….. 78

Chapter 10: Reference………………………………………..

Chapter 11: Annexure………………………………………..

4
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

As a consumer we are all unique and this uniqueness is reflected in the consumption
pattern and process purchase. The study of consumer behavior provides us with
reasons why consumers differ from one another in buying and using products and
services. We receive stimuli from the environment and the specifics of the marketing
strategies of different products and services, and responds to these stimuli in terms of
either buying or not buying product. In between the stage of receiving the stimuli and
responding to it, the consumer goes through the process of making his decision. Upon
the investigations carried out based on questioner made for the research project,
several details were found which were remarkable to this aspect of the market,
catering specifically to this category and segment which is the most promising sector
growing rapidly in West Bengal and rest of India. Presently the mobile sector in West
Bengal is booming. Still relatively new, the mobile phone market saw a large boom
after the call rates were dropped. Now the cellular service operators are no longer
limited to calling and short messaging, and have introduced a lieu of features
including mobile number portability, e-charges, GPRS, Edge, 3g, 4g connectivity to
draw in the public.

Major cell phone manufacturing brands are not behind; they are rapidly evolving the
cell phone so that it is no longer a simple radio device. As of 2006, an average cell
phone is expected to have a camera. A large built in memory or capacity for memory
cards, internet connectivity and number portability services including, radio,
mp3/mp4 player, and Bluetooth for wireless data transfer. All of this is a far cry for a
device originally meant just to connect to people through short wave radio antennae.

5
1.1: Cellular Device Market in West Bengal
In West Bengal the Telephone 'revolution' occurred roughly in the 1980's, with more
and more people opting for a Landline connection. However, Cellular service was
introduced in 1995, and officially opened by then CM, Jyoti Basu making Call to
Telecom Minister Sukhram. However it was not until well in to the 2000 decade, that
most people were able to afford any kind of cellular service.

1.2: Factors which accelerated Cellular growth in West Bengal

1. Call rates were dropped dramatically from as high as Rs 32/min to as low Rs. 1 per
minute or less.
2. SMS service was introduced at a cheaper rate than calls. An instant hit among
youths who could afford cellular service.
3. GPRS on Mobile was introduced and rates slashed dramatically to as low as Rs.
48 per month for 1 gigabyte data usage. This ushered in the Social networking
revolution and furthered strengthened Cellular Device Companies foot-hold in West
Bengal and India.
4. Handset prices dropped rapidly from above Rs 20000 for a Basic phone to Rs. 1200
for that same model. This prompted more and more users to take up the Cell. At
present, roughly 1.4 million handsets (collective) are sold every month in West
Bengal. Most of these are standard GSM handsets, which give the user the freedom
to change from carrier to carrier easily, by simply removing the sim and inserting a
new one.
5. The net disposable income has grown per capita. This translates to better
telephone sales in the end market.
6. Multiple carriers have been able to set up shop here, this has prompted further

decreasing of various rates and a criterion’s, prompting rapid cellular market growth.

7. Relaxing of various Import related Criterion by the govt., has enabled various
International Companies like APPLE, HTC and others to bring the latest

6
generation of phones to the customers, and has increased revenue income to the govt.

8. The limit of connections per person has been slacked from 2 to 25, (as of 2009).
This has prompted the increase of cellular device consumers, as most single income
heads from joint families, are able to gift cellular devices with affordable connection
to individual family.

Next generation networking capabilities, such as 3g, 3.5g and 4g are also on the
forefront at West Bengal, prompting more and more customers to buy latest handsets
featuring different connectivity options not being limited to standard options.

1.3: Customer Profiles of Cellular Device buyers in West

Bengal
In the Course of the research study, following valuable information has been revealed
about the quintessential West Bengal shop going individual. The following data is
classified into subgroups for easy access.

1. Gender
Male or Female customers each have their own choices and set of pre-requisites when
it comes to purchasing a cellular device. Primarily, a male candidate is concerned
about the features of a phone. And though this may sound biased, a female candidate
is generally concerned whether the device would clash with her dress or not. Biases
aside, it is important to know that a male candidate would generally exhibit a specific
patterned buying behavior, as compared to female buying behavior.

The Male and Female West Bengalis will exhibit typical buying patterns, as apparent
in the COSMOPOLITAN survey, 2011.

7
MALE
The male would have a clear idea of what he wants to buy.
The male candidate is generally knowledgeable on the features available in
the device, having a mental list of features he wants to have in the cell-
phone.
A male candidate will frequently change a cell phone. This behavior is
generally fueled by the doubt that his device is getting outdated.
A male candidate would spend a large amount of money on accessories
which add-on to the features present in the phone, and not be concerned
about aesthetics.
The male candidate is purely influenced by the peer group and has a large
amount of envy and ego factor, in-spite of several researchers insisting,
that those are strictly female domain.
The male buyer may be easily influenced by the family members. In most
cases this is noticeable where the male buyer has children old enough to be
adequately knowledgeable about the product.

FEMALE
The female candidate may not have a clear idea of what kind of cell-phone
she wants to buy. They would visit a cell phone store and quote a maximum
budget and instruct the sales person to show what devices would fall under
her or equal to her budget.
The female candidate may not be knowledgeable of every feature available
in the cell-phone and its future benefits. Thereby it is noticed that
frequently they would use mobile devices which are rudely outdated, and
manage to hold attention by looks alone.
A female candidate may change her phone every 2 years (largest
respondents) or on an S.O.S basis.

8
 2. Age
The average age of customers in West Bengal is comfortably falling under the 35-45
age categories, with 2 in 5 customers visiting the market falling under the above
category.

Following is an Age group wise distribution with notes on different Cellular phone
buying habits of those individuals, who had responded to the questioners.

25-35 years
This is the prime time in a customer’s life. He or She has secured a job, and with
today's high standards in education, it can be assumed that it is a high paying job
with competitive salary structures. Here the customer is still able to spend freely as
that person is not encumbered by family burdens, such as rearing of the family,
caring for invalid parents and others. Most of the cases, it is seen that with today’s
advanced retirement ages, the parents of such individuals are active, and receive
either salaries or pensions, according to their employment status.

In that case, the person of that particular age group is enjoying a particularly
enjoyable period, and is free to spend his or her income as seen fit by that individual.
This automatically translates to a period of pleasure buying, and in such cases, the
person may spend an exceedingly large amount of money on cellular

9
phone devices. Of the individuals interviewed, approximately 40% lie under this
category. They all exhibit similar buying patterns, which suggest that they buy their
phones on fairly regular schedule. These schedules of cellular device recycling lie
between as near as 6 months to roughly 2 years for these typical individuals.

36-45 years
This group is much more careful about spending. The average person in this group is
married, or is engaged to be married. Those nearer to the upper bracket of 45, may
also have kids and other responsibilities. Here the purchasing behavior is generally
co-incident with as on per requirement basis or strictly to maintain status quo. The
average person in this group is an even higher salaried individual as that person has
been able to break ranks over his or her colleagues in the 25-35 brackets. The
average salary in this group is roughly 20-25000 /- or 25000 /- + in some cases.
(Tallied according to the Respondents choice)

The 36-45 years age group follows a unique buying pattern, as given below:
1. Brand Centered:
This group of people has already sieved through most of the brands available in the
market, so male and female alike, have a clear idea which brands give most value for
money. They will actively seek out such brands, including going to 'Authorized'
dealers for purchasing where an alternative may not be applicable.

2. Price oriented:
This group generally has a number of responsibilities to look after which includes
Parents, who - if alive - are pensioners or are closing retirement age. So this group
doesn't have the luxury of depending upon parents for food and clothing, and has to
take care of themselves with their own money. Unless highly salaried, this creates a
sharp decline in the availability of disposable income which the person has available
for personal luxuries.

10
3. Time utilization:
Due to price and budget constraints, these people only buy a branded phone, which
suites their budget. However, this group shows a rapid decline in repeat purchases
for cellular devices, and tends to fully utilize their cellular devices before retiring
them. This behavior tends to extend to accessories as well. As these people will not
buy any accessories which they feel is unnecessary and does not provide any
immediate benefits.

46-55 years
This is an ideal group. Marketers tend to give much importance to this group due to
the prime familiar aspect which tends to materialize itself in the form of children.
This group has kids old enough to be tech savvy and young enough to apply
emotional pressures on their parents in order to obtain products for their own use, or
suggest cellular telephone devices for their Father or Mother.

Unique characteristics of this group are

1. Greatly influenced by offspring.
2. Have a larger amount of Disposable Income due to events such as Promotions or
Rank Status upgrades.
3. This is a second period of Pleasure Buying for some people as they tend to buy
things at this time frame, which they believe would last with them, well after
retirement.
4. Tend to buy older or Outdated Cellular Phone devices which are comparatively
simpler to use than the newer devices. However, they will buy latest products for use
by children.

11
56 and above
This is the final stages before retirement. Here the customer is weary of the
hardships that are heading his or her way, after the stoppage of income which is
guaranteed and depending upon a unsteady pension system. The buying patterns
here tend to exhibit the customers motives for the future. Cellular Device buying
patterns are Unique for this group as well.
1. Only purchases the cheapest Cell phones available in the market, or their
purchases fall in the 1000/- to 5000/- category with purchases rarely reaching the 5K
magic mark.
2. Maximum utilization of cellular devices is observed here. On an average a
customer will use the cell phone for 5 years or more time, and even retain it to the
end of its effective lifetime before purchasing another set.
3. Pleasure buying is not present or is neglidigible at this stage. This group prefers
only basic connectivity options and uses cellular devices in their purest form, or just
for making and receiving calls.

3. Employment Location
This is a major factor that determines a cellular phone buyer behavior and are
extensively related to the family that each person has. Primarily the source of
employment determines what amount of disposable income the person has to offer for
buying products.
The discerning factor of any source of employment is the nature of the employment
status. Some generally found and noticed employment statuses are:-

Privately Employed
This person is employed by a non government organization which may or may not be
an NGO. However on careful observation it is noticed that these organizations may
range from BPO’s surviving on overseas outsourcing jobs to complex Multi

12
National Companies which are powerhouses in their own right. All privately
employed persons interviewed, generally show the same pattern. They are within the
25-35-45 bracket. Never, exceeding, this age group.

The privately employed person is generally of a more open minded nature, accepting
and understanding technological advances as a tool towards his or her success. To
this end, the cellular phone device is an indispensible tool.

So the observed pattern here shows that the person generally buys the cellular device
on a half yearly basis, and will go for the latest innovation and is generally buying
from locations such as the Mall and / or authorized dealers.

The buying patterns exhibited by such individuals are as follows:

1. Generally buy from posh and premiere locals such as Shopping Malls or
exclusive dealers.
2. May spend more than Rs. 15000 on a single purchase.
3. Are motivated by spouses and children. Here the spouse is greatly empowered
as in 8/10 cases, she is also privately employed.
4. Average age of such individuals promote the buying of feature rich devices as
compared to other individuals.
5. Are on top of the connectivity wagon, having the latest services.

Government Employees
These people have unique tendencies. They are employed in a sector, where money
may be comparatively lower than that of privately employed individual; however,
they have much greater resilience and job security. Along with a pension scheme, this
is generally absent in private sectors. The buying patterns exhibited by these
individuals are again unique as they are mostly from a single income family where
they have to run on a budget. These people are generally unable to buy a costly

13
product upon first launch, as compared to privately employed individuals who are
‘Early adopters’. They are the most influenced by their children, as they themselves
having faced a tough childhood generally wish to avoid the same for their offspring.
The average age of this individuals are 45-55 and above. This states that the number
of such individuals is fast declining. The disposable income available to such
individuals is also lower than the disposable income available to privately employed
individuals. However, it would be biased to assume that these individuals do not
make enough money to buy expensive cellular phone devices.

They exhibit the following buying pattern:

1. Generally buy from local shops, where they can get a discount.
2. May spend as much as Rs 10000 for set to give to his or her offspring, however
seldom exceeds Rs 5000 for devices meant for personal use.
3. The wife is not a contributing member to buying decisions, as these individuals
are generally from a single income family. However she is generally
indispensible source of wisdom regarding budget matters.
4. Average age of these individuals promote the thought of buying simple devices
for personal use. However since these individuals are morally burdened and
carry with them memories from a different age, they will buy costly cellular
devices for their family members.
5. Are generally satisfied with basic connectivity features such as calling and
SMS service.

4. Cellular purchase behavior based on Salary Obtained

The salary band under which an individual falls may help to explain the cellular
phone buying pattern of that individual.
The salary bands as for average West Bengali individual along with effect on cell-
phone purchase pattern are as follows: (In Rs ‘000)

14
1. 10-15 :
This is greatest number of individuals irrespective of employment status.
These individuals are generally freshers or individuals holding low ranking
jobs. Most of the cases the former is true. These individuals are generally able
to fall back on a family curtain, and are not pressed to support the family. This
group regardless of income is holding the greatest power, as the entire income
is disposable. The cellular purchase pattern here is whimsical. They may seek
parents’ advice before buying, but that is a rare case.

2. 16-20 :
9 out of 10 individuals of this group is married or is engaged or in the process
of finding bride or groom. The individuals of this group are generally engaged
in taking care of their parents, who may be in need of physical care as well as
economical.

The individuals of this group are the most taxed individuals as they are unable

to spend freely as they wish, and are resenting the purchases they had made.

This group tends to spend on cellular phones sparingly and on a SOS basis.
However, this group has shown complex gifting behavior. Where the individual
would spend on gifts to his or her would be, or married to life partner.

3. 21-25:
The individuals of this group are again experiencing another brief period of
repose as the individuals of this group are sadly without parents in most of the
cases. Emotions aside, this translates to large amount of savings from the
duties which the individuals have been exempted from, recently.

15
 This period is especially good as the individual here is in a cross-road. If that
individual has married, his children are either waiting to be born or are at a
stable enough pace of life where a fixed amount of investment is all that is
required of the parents.

Owing to this, the purchase patterns are also unique as the individual is
buying primarily for himself and to maintain the newly established stat quo.
This group will generally spend a large amount on cellular purchase. Even
Govt. employees belonging to this group are able to purchase costly products
for themselves as this is a universally favorable point of their lives.

Brand conscious cellular phone buying is mostly observed at his stage of time
where the individual is highly brand centric while making the purchase.

4. 26 and above:
This group is continuing to enjoy the benefits of the previous groups. However,
the buying capacity and patterns are marred somewhat, due to the
introduction of certain variable which may be varied from the savings for
college education to saving for assisted pension schemes where the individual
technically feeds of his own income. The individuals of this group are generally
approaching a high status position where a degree of outlook is a must with
the work load.

The cellular device buying patterns exhibited by these individuals are unique.
Unique Pattern Exhibited by Respondents fetching over INR 26000 in salary
per month:

16
 Buys primarily for maintaining status quo. May not be psychologically
inclined to make purchases, as he or she may feel that the cellular
device owned by that person is still fit for further use.
Buys top branded products such as Nokia, Samsung, Sony Ericsson
and HTC.
Are generally dependent on a host of connectivity features such as
GPRS, 3g and others to stay connected to their business / job location.
This group spends the most for staying connected.
Privately employed individuals belonging to this group will generally
purchase cellular devices whose prices are on excess of 15000 /- and
above.

5. Typical Shopping location preferred by West Bengali

Individual
The West Bengali individual is not different from shoppers at other parts of India or
the world.

The choice of shopping location was also observed to a major factor in buying cellular
devices, as each shopping location will attract a specific crowd of public. It is to be
noted that, in Kolkata, there are several shopping locations and one mandatory
‘Bazaar’ which people have access to at any given moment. These shopping locations
influence the cellular telephone buying behavior of the customer, especially which is
family influenced, in the following way.

Comfort factor:
The comfort factor of an average shopping area greatly modifies the buying
behavior of customers. Family influenced cellular device customers are no
exception. The comfort factor here is chiefly physical comfort. The average
shopping centre, be it a departmental store or a Mall, provides the largest

17
amount of physical Comfort per square meter, according to a recent survey. The
ratio of comfort provided is directly proportional to the amount of money spent
and popularity of a shopping location.

Security:
This is a major concern in today’s world. After the various terrorist attacks
carried out on various parts of the nation, the average customer is generally
spooked and is ready to flee at the first sign of danger. This is worrying to
marketers as customers may not want to spend any amount of money if they do
not feel safe at a particular location. This is a major hurdle for cellular device
manufacturers who campaign family offers such as the recent ‘Jodi offer’ given by
Nokia, where 2 cellular devices, each of identical make and model but of different
color, was offered to customers at a discounted rate.
It was aimed especially at newly-wed couples looking for some special
communication devices to commemorate the joyous occasion. However, such an
offer would most likely fail when campaigned at a place where customers felt that
bringing family was unsafe.

Price factor:
It is to be noted that the price factor plays an important role in the cellular phone
purchasing behavior. Most consumers opt for shopping malls for buying cellular
devices as they can be sure that they will get the most competitive price available
at any market location. This is not true for other locations, where a number of
problems such as ‘Stagnant Stock’, ‘Out-dated stock’, ‘non competitive pricing’
may play a major factor in the sales of the product.

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1.4: Top 10 reasons for Cellular device purchase in West
Bengal
Based on comments by individuals who were interviewed during the course of the
research study.

1. Wireless:
The biggest and perhaps the most astonishing aspect of cell phones is that they are
wireless. People are not bound to stand or sit in one place and converse. The freedom
of talking while walking, working, eating, driving, playing, etc, makes cell phones an
unbelievably fascinating as well as essential entity for modern living.

2. Wide Range Coverage:

Apart from being wireless, cell phones are also preferable because they work virtually
anywhere nowadays. Modern network providers for cell phones have expanded their
coverage to unbelievable distances so if a cell phone is owned along with ‘good’
network coverage, isolation would always be in a distance.

3. In Case of Emergencies:
Cell phones have become exceptionally essential for modern day living. There are a
number of reasons of this essentiality but perhaps the most important reason is the
liberty of making calls in an unpleasant situation. Be it a car wreck, someone’s death
at a hospital, or any other sort of distressful situation, the presence of cell phones at
fingertips makes them an essential and useful tool to be connected with the world.

4. Entertainment Purposes:
Modern cell phones are highly sophisticated with an array of entertainment options
for users. Movies, games, music, and much more can be enjoyed without needing
conventional television sets or CD players.

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5. Text Messaging:
Text Messaging through cell phones is one of the cheapest ways of staying in contact
with the world. It is also a relatively easy option to use as well as speedy which saves
time.

6. Business and Banking:

Mobile banking is becoming an increasingly significant phenomenon of modern cell
phones. Managing personal bank accounts, transferring funds, lending money, loans,
refunds, along with much more is very conveniently done through cell phones these
days.

7. News, weather, and miscellaneous updates:

Depending on whether the users are interested in knowing about weather, political
news, sports news, business news, or all of them at once, cell phones provide them
with this privilege and hence become an essential part of modern living.

8. Privacy:
Personal cell phones are also highly private. They give users the opportunity to
organize their contacts in whatsoever manner they wish to. Cell phones also allow
people to protect their privacy with the help of passwords, pass codes, and pin
numbers that are exclusive to them.

9. Other Functions:
Apart from the functions and uses mentioned in the preceding points, cell phones also
provide a number of other functions that have contributed to their success and
therefore have become an essential part of modern life; functions such as calculators,
inbuilt clock, calendar, voice recording, audio and video recording,

20
camera of various megapixels, currency exchange, alarm clocks, picture and video
editors, and so on are rather captivating.

10. Social Obligations:

Cell phones have become such a vital component of daily life that without owning a
cell phone a person could feel like an outcast. This social obligation drives every sect
of the society to get cell phones. Cell phones are perhaps one of those entities that do
not discriminate or are limited to a single faction of the society. A president may hold
a cell phone and so does a mere domestic peasant. Although the classification of those
two cell phones may widely vary, nevertheless it is an entity which prevails and
dominates everyone these days.

1.5: Role of cellular devices in typical West Bengal family,

along with a note on concerns expressed

Role of Mobile phone in family communication:

The following were found during the course of the research.

1. Communication and relationships were described in positive terms by parents and
young people. Both groups also identified a change with age, with the older age-
groups (14 and upwards) spending more time socializing and communicating with
friends and peers.

2. Young people in rural areas were found to spend more time in the family home,
compared to urban young people. Rural young people felt they had less opportunity
for leisure and socializing.

21
3. Young people generally kept their parents informed about where they were going
and what they were doing. For the younger age groups this was for safety, and for the
older ages more of a courtesy to the parents, in case they were worried.

4. Young people generally were trusted by their parents. The only exception to this
was when a young person had previously lied to a parent.

5. Almost all parents described initially purchasing, or letting their child have, a
mobile phone for one of two reasons. Either because young people asked for one, or
because of young people’s growing independence; this was particularly associated
with the move to secondary school.

6. Most young people had pay-as-you-go (also known as pre-paid) mobile phones.
This gave them control over how much they were spending. Some young people paid
their own bills, whilst in other families parents covered the costs.

7. Young people used their mobile phone with parents to make arrangements, inform
them of changed plans, and deal with any emergencies. They used phones with
friends to socialise and make friends.

8. Young people had mixed views about the privacy of their mobile phone. A minority
did not mind parents seeing the contents of their mobiles. For a majority of young
people, however, their mobile was viewed as their private space. They felt
particularly strongly that parents should not view the messages or call histories on
their mobiles.

9. Mobile phone use between parents and young people was mainly in terms of
planning and arrangements. However, both parents and young people talked about
the importance of mobiles being available for emergencies.

22
10. Monitoring using the mobile was seen by parents as effective and essential.
However, parents did highlight problems with mobile use – including young people
not hearing their phone, not charging it, or deliberately not answering their phones.
11. Parents preferred to speak to young people on their mobiles. This was because
they found it reassuring to talk directly to young people, and hear their voice. Most
young people, however, preferred to text.

12. Most young people considered that their parents were not very competent in
using mobiles, particularly in relation to texting (short-term messages, or SMS). This
was more so for mothers than fathers.

13. Most parents saw the phone as their child’s own personal property and said they
had never checked or looked at their phone. It was often described as like a ‘diary’,
and therefore viewing it would be an invasion of privacy. A small number of parents
did view their child’s mobile phones, sometimes with and sometimes without their
consent. This was most common when parents were concerned about their child’s
behavior or activities.

14. Most parents saw the phone as their child’s own personal property and said they
had never checked or looked at their phone. It was often described as like a ‘diary’,
and therefore viewing it would be an invasion of privacy. A small number of parents
did view their child’s mobile phones, sometimes with and sometimes without their
consent. This was most common when parents were concerned about their child’s
behavior or activities.

Concerns about using cellular phones by children

Parents and young people talked about similar concerns about using mobile phones.
The main areas raised were: theft and mugging, bullying and ‘happy slapping’ (an
unpleasant incident recorded and circulated by mobile phone), expense, media and

23
peer pressure, and health risks. Parents and young people in urban areas were more
worried about muggings and theft compared to those in rural areas, usually because
of their direct experience of it.

A third of the young people had experienced some kind of unpleasant incident with
their mobile phone, such as bullying or happy-slapping. A third more reported it
occurring to someone they knew. Parents were much less concerned about the issue.
Most young people felt there was peer and media pressure to have the ‘right’ phone.
Those from lower income families in particular commented on the difficulties of
keeping up with their peers in this way.

Young people and parents were unsure about the long-term health risks of mobile
phones. However, both parents and young people said they tried to reduce any
potential risk through limiting the amount of time spent on the mobile phone.
Parents also identified two further concerns about young people’s mobile phone use
– the possibility of communication with strangers, and making their child generally
less communicative.

1.6: Further influences in cellular purchase behavior in West

Bengal
1. Whether that family is with or without children.
This is a very important factor as it determines the spending ability of the family
earning head. As explained above, the presence of children would essentially
mean the decreasing of disposable income which would translate into buying
cheaper cellular phones and decreased repeat buying. However, when the child
grows up to a certain age and is able to comprehend and use the mobile phone
properly, it becomes another decisive factor, and may influence the cellular phone
buying motives of the family.

24
2. Society and Standing:
Regardless of personal or peer factors, the society in which a person lives in can
also influence the cellular phone purchase decisions. Here minimum input by
family is noticed. The buying motive is influenced here by the societal peers who
may negatively or positively influence the buying motive of the individual. A case
of negative motivation, can be seen, where a person is living in a backward
society, and regardless of income or personal taste and standings, would opt for a
cheap mobile so as not to attract un-solicited animosity from his or her jealous
peers.

3. Marital status or current relationship status:

The marital status of a person, along with current relationship status with
spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend, will also influence the cellular phone buying
behavior of a person. An individual seeking to influence the objective of affection
is more likely to purchase a cellular device for gifting purposes, as compared to
others.

4. Parents and siblings:

Parents and siblings both play an important role in the cellular device buying
process. It is to be noted, that a prospective consumer may not always be the
customer, and may only be spending a pre-allotted amount of money to buy the
specific product. In such cases, it is to be noted that the opinions of Parents
(paying party in most cases) will matter the most. Siblings may act as pseudo
parents with positive intentions in most of the cases. They would generally play a
positive role by informing the individual who is going to buy the product, about
the product that he or she is going to get for the amount allotted or allowed - to
that individual. They are also a source of moral support as these individuals
would also accompany the buying party to the market and help make the final
decision.

25
5. Nuclear or Joint family:
This has a combined affect as it affects both the current buying motive of the
individual and the final amount which is going to be spent for cellular purchase.
It affects the buying motive by simply stating necessities and un-necessities
which are going to play a major role in the time ahead for the individual buying
the cellular device, regardless of make or model and money allotted towards the
purchase of the same. It is to be noted that a cellular phone purchased is not a
finite cost, resolved when the purchase of the product is finished. The single
income source of the nuclear family would also have to foot the bills of the devices,
pre-paid or post-paid. It is much simpler in a joint family, where there is always
more than one earning member. Incase more than one earning member is present,
one earning member may buy the cellular devices, one may pay for the bills and
another may pay for the accessories like Memory cards and others. This is chiefly
noticed in China and Taiwan families, which always follow such a ‘Harmonious’
role.

6. Location and availability:

This forms a great determining factor while buying cellular devices. It may be so
that a certain region may be deemed unsuitable for a certain product,
discouraging the companies to invest in outlets specializing in those cellular
devices and only sell simple products -designed for basic use. If this happens,
regardless of all circumstances, the customer would only have to be satisfied with
basic services and devices. This is a large determining factor in the cellular phone
market, and is independent of all other type of influences which may determine
the outcome of a sale.

Some of the items affected by this specific condition are:

26
Brands:
Certain brands may have been banned from certain areas due to a number of
clauses imposed either by the govt. or otherwise. This means, a customer
would either have to obtain the product illegally and risk incarceration, or go
without it. For cellular devices this is a big issue, as some carriers and
producers may incorporate features and services which may be viewed as
potential threats by the govt.
Example:
Camera phones with camera’s catering to resolutions above VGA resolution
were banned in China until the year 2006. It was feared that consumers
carrying such phones would snap detailed pictures of the countries specific and
vulnerable areas exposing them to terrorist threat.

Exclusiveness:
Certain devices may be deemed exclusive or Premium by the cellular device
manufactures. If this is the case, then only a handful would be able to afford
that item in-spite of the availability or permissions granted.
Example:
The Virtue constellation ultra exclusive, priced at 1.5 million Euros, is the
costliest cellular device in the world. Only 5 people in the world own it. One
was gifted to Nelson Mandela in the year 2008.

Features:
Certain features may not be available at a certain location due to various
reasons, the most common of them being the inability to provide a location for
an upgraded cellular device tower.

27
1.7: Brief history of telecommunication in India, with
Particular Reference to West Bengal

The Republic of India possesses a diversified communications system that links all
parts of the country by Internet, telephone, telegraph, radio, and television. Most of
the telecommunications forms are as prevalent or as advanced as those in modern
Western countries, and the system includes some of the most sophisticated
technology in the world and constitutes a foundation for further development of a
modern network. India has the world's second-largest mobile phone users with over
903 million as of January 2012. It has the world's third-largest Internet users with
over 121 million as of December 2011. India has become the world's most competitive
and one of the fastest growing telecom markets. The industry is expected to reach a
size of INR344,921 crores (US$68.81 billion) by 2012 at a growth rate of over 26 per
cent, and generate employment opportunities for about 10 million people during the
same period. According to analysts, the sector would create direct employment for 2.8
million people and for 7 million indirectly.[5] The total revenue of the Indian telecom
sector grew by 7% to INR283,207 crore (US$56.5 billion) for 2010–11 financial year,
while revenues from telecom equipment segment stood at INR117,039 crores
(US$23.35 billion).

Telecom in the real sense means the transfer of information between two distant
points in space. The popular meaning of telecom always involves electrical signals
and as a result, people often exclude postal or any other raw telecommunication
methods from its meaning. Therefore, the history of Indian telecom can be started
with the introduction of telegraph.

The Indian postal and telecom sectors saw a slow and uneasy start. In 1850, the first
experimental electric telegraph line was started between Kolkata and Diamond
Harbour. In 1851, it was opened for the use of the British East India Company. The

28
Posts and Telegraphs department occupied a small corner of the Public Works
Department, at that time.

Subsequently, the construction of 4,000 miles (6,400 km) of telegraph lines

connecting Kolkata (then Calcutta) and Peshawar in the north along with Agra,
Mumbai (then Bombay) through Sindwa Ghats, and Chennai (then Madras) in the
south, as well as Ootacamund and Bangalore was started in November 1853.
Dr.William O'Shaughnessy, who pioneered the telegraph and telephone in India,
belonged to the Public Works Department, and worked towards the - development of
telecom throughout this period. A separate department was opened in 1854 when
telegraph facilities were opened to the public.

In 1880, two telephone companies namely The Oriental Telephone Company Ltd. and
The Anglo-Indian Telephone Company Ltd. approached the Government of India to
establish telephone exchanges in India. The permission was refused on the grounds
that the establishment of telephones was a Government monopoly and that the
Government itself would undertake the work. In 1881, the Government later
reversed its earlier decision and a licence was granted to the Oriental Telephone
Company Limited of England for opening telephone exchanges at Calcutta, Bombay,
Madras and Ahmedabad and the first formal telephone service was established in the
country. On 28 January 1882, Major E. Baring, Member of the Governor General of
India's Council declared open the Telephone Exchanges in Calcutta, Bombay and
Madras. The exchange in Calcutta named the "Central Exchange", was opened at
third floor of the building at 7, Council House Street, with a total of 93 subscribers.
Later that year, Bombay also witnessed the opening of a telephone exchange.

29
Key Milestones:

Pre-1902 – Cable telegraph

1902 – First wireless telegraph station established between Sagar Islands and
Sandheads.
1907 – First Central Battery of telephones introduced in Kanpur.
1913–1914 – First Automatic Exchange installed in Shimla.
1927 – Radio-telegraph system between the UK and India, with Imperial
Wireless Chain beam stations at Khadki and Daund. Inaugurated by Lord
Irwin on 23 July by exchanging greetings with King George V.
1933 – Radiotelephone system inaugurated between the UK and India.
1953 – 12 channel carrier system introduced.
1960 – First subscriber trunk dialing route commissioned between Lucknow
and Kanpur.
1975 – First PCM system commissioned between Mumbai City and Andheri
telephone exchanges.
1976 – First digital microwave junction.
1979 – First optical fibre system for local junction commissioned at Pune.
1980 – First satellite earth station for domestic communications established at
Sikandarabad, U.P..
1983 – First analogue Stored Program Control exchange for trunk lines
commissioned at Mumbai.
1984 – C-DOT established for indigenous development and production of
digital exchanges.
1995 – First mobile telephone service started on non-commercial basis on 15
August 1995 in Delhi.
1995 – Internet Introduced in India starting with Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta,
Chennai and Pune on 15 August 1995

30
While all the major cities and towns in the country were linked with telephones
during the British period, the total number of telephones in 1948 numbered only
around 80,000. Post independence, growth remained slow because the telephone was
seen more as a status symbol rather than being an instrument of utility. The number
of telephones grew leisurely to 980,000 in 1971, 2.15 million in 1981 and 5.07 million
in 1991, the year economic reforms were initiated in the country.

While certain measures were taken to boost the telecom industry from time to time,
(for example introduction of the telex service in Mumbai in 1953 and commissioning
of the first Subscriber trunk dialling route between Delhi and Kanpur and between
Lucknow and Kanpur in 1960), the first waves of change were set going by Sam
Pitroda in the eighties.The real transformation in scenario came with the
announcement of the National Telecom Policy in 1994.

Modern Policies:
1. All villages shall receive telecom facilities by the end of 2002.
2. A Communication Convergence Bill introduced in the Parliament on 31 August
2001 is presently before the Standing Committee of Parliament on Telecom and IT.
3. National Long Distance Service (NLD) is opened for unrestricted entry.
4. The International Long Distance Services (ILDS) have been opened to
competition.
5. The basic services are open to competition.
6. In addition to the existing three, a fourth cellular operator, one each in four
metros and thirteen circles, has been permitted. Cellular operators have been
permitted to provide all types of mobile services including voice and non-voice
messages, data services and PCOs utilizing any type of network equipment, including
circuit and/or package switches that meet certain required standards.
7. Policies allowing private participation have been announced as per the New
Telecom Policy (NTP), 1999 in several new services, which include Global Mobile

31
Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service, digital Public Mobile Radio
Trunked Service (PMRTS) and Voice Mail/ Audiotex/ Unified Messaging Services.
8. Wireless Local Loop (WLL) has been introduced to provide telephone
connections in urban, semi-urban and rural areas promptly.
9. Two telecom PSUs, VSNL and HTL have been disinvested.
10. Steps are being taken to fulfill Universal Service Obligation (USO), funding,
and administration.
11. A decision to permit Community Phone Service has been announced.
12. Multiple Fixed Service Providers (FSPs) licensing guidelines were announced.
13. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been allowed to set up International
Internet Gateways, both Satellite and Landing stations for submarine optical fiber
cables.
14. Two categories of infrastructure providers have been allowed to provide end-to-
end bandwidth and dark fiber, right of way, towers, duct space etc.
15. Guidelines have been issued by the Government to open up Internet
telephony (IP).

1.8: Emergence of India, as a major player in Telecom Sector

In 1975, the Department of Telecom (DoT) was separated from Indian Post &
Telecommunication Department. DoT was responsible for telecom services in entire
country until 1985 when Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) was carved
out of DoT to run the telecom services of Delhi and Mumbai. In 1990s the telecom
sector was opened up by the -Government for private investment as a part of
Liberalization-Privatization-Globalization policy.

Therefore, it became necessary to separate the Government's policy wing from its
operations wing. The Government of India corporatized the operations wing of DoT
on 1 October 2000 and named it as Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). Many
private operators, such as Reliance Communications, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, Loop

32
Mobile, Airtel, Idea etc., successfully entered the high potential Indian telecom
market.

Privatization:
The Indian government was composed of many factions (parties) which had different
ideologies. Some of them were willing to throw open the market to foreign players
(the centrists) and others wanted the government to regulate infrastructure and
restrict the involvement of foreign players. Due to this political background it was
very difficult to bring about liberalization in telecommunications. When a bill was in
parliament a majority vote had to be passed, and such a majority was difficult to
obtain, given to the number of parties having different ideologies.

Liberalization started in 1981 when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi signed contracts
with Alcatel CIT of France to merge with the state owned Telecom Company (ITI), in
an effort to set up 5,000,000 lines per year. But soon the policy was let down because
of political opposition. She invited Sam Pitroda a US based Non-resident Indian NRI
to set up a Center for Development of Telematics(C-DOT), however the plan failed
due to political reasons. During this period, after the assassination of Indira Gandhi,
under the leadership of Rajiv Gandhi, many public sector organizations were set up
like the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), VSNL and MTNL. Many
technological developments took place in this regime but still foreign players were
not allowed to participate in the telecommunications business. The demand for
telephones was ever increasing.

It was during this period that the Narsimha Rao-led government introduced the
national telecommunications policy [NTP] in 1994 which brought changes in the
following areas: ownership, service and regulation of telecommunications
infrastructure.

33
They were also successful in establishing joint ventures between state owned telecom
companies and - international players. But still complete ownership of facilities was
restricted only to the government owned organisations. Foreign firms were eligible to
49% of the total stake. The multi-nationals were just involved in technology transfer,
and not policy making. During this period, the World Bank and ITU had advised the
Indian Government to liberalise long distance services to release the monopoly of the
state owned DoT and VSNL; and to enable competition in the long distance carrier
business which would help reduce tariff's and better the economy of the country. The
Rao run government instead liberalized the local services, taking the opposite
political parties into confidence and assuring foreign involvement in the long distance
business after 5 years. The country was divided into 20 telecommunication circles for
basic telephony and 18 circles for mobile services. These circles were divided into
category A, B and C depending on the value of the revenue in each circle.

The government threw open the bids to one private company per circle along with
government owned DoT per circle. For cellular service two service providers were
allowed per circle and a 15 years license was given to each provider. During all these
improvements, the government did face oppositions from ITI, DoT, MTNL, VSNL and
other labour unions, but they managed to keep away from all the hurdles.

After 1995 the government set up TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)
which reduced the interference of Government in deciding tariffs and policy making.
The DoT opposed this. The political powers changed in 1999 and the new government
under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more pro-reforms and introduced
better liberalization policies. They split DoT in two- one policy maker and the other
service provider (DTS) which was later renamed as BSNL. The proposal of raising
the stake of foreign investors from 49% to 74% was rejected by the opposite political
party and leftist thinkers. Domestic business groups wanted

34
the government to privatize VSNL.
Finally in April 2002, the government decided to cut its stake of 53% to 26% in VSNL
and to throw it open for sale to private enterprises. TATA finally took 25% stake in
VSNL. This was a gateway to many foreign investors to get entry into the Indian
Telecom Markets.

The government further reduced license fees for cellular service providers and
increased the allowable stake to 74% for foreign companies. Because of all these
factors, the service fees finally reduced and the call costs were cut greatly enabling
every common middle class family in India to afford a cell phone. Nearly 32 million
handsets were sold in India. The data reveals the real potential for growth of the
Indian mobile market. In March 2008 the total GSM and CDMA mobile subscriber
base in the country was 375 million, which represented a nearly 50% growth when
compared with previous year. As the unbranded Chinese cell phones which do not
have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers pose a serious
security risk to the country, Mobile network operators therefore planned to suspend
the usage of around 30 million mobile phones (about 8 % of all mobiles in the country)
by 30 April. 5–6 years the average monthly subscribers additions were around 0.05 to
0.1 million only and the total mobile subscribers base in December 2002 stood at 10.5
millions. However, after a number of proactive initiatives were taken by regulators
and licensors, the total number of mobile subscribers has increased greatly to 881
million subscribers as of October 2011.

India has opted for the use of both the GSM (global system for mobile
communications) and CDMA (code-division multiple access) technologies in the
mobile sector. In addition to landline and mobile phones, some of the companies also
provide the WLL service. The mobile tariffs in India have also become lowest in the
world. A new mobile connection can be activated with a monthly commitment of
US$0.15 only. In 2005 alone additions increased to around 2 million per month in
2003–04 and 2004–05.

35
In June 2009, the Government of India banned the import of several mobile phones
manufactured in China citing concerns over quality and the lack of IMEI's which
make it difficult for authorities in India to track the sale and use of such phones.

In April 2010, the Government was also reported to be blocking Indian service
providers from purchasing Chinese mobile technology citing concerns that Chinese
hackers could compromise the Indian telecommunications network during times of
national emergency.

A series of attacks on Indian government websites and computer networks by

suspected Chinese hackers has also made Indian regulators suspicious with regards
to the import of potentially sensitive equipment from China. The companies reported
to be affected by this are Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

Regulatory environment:
LIRNEasia's Telecommunications Regulatory Environment (TRE) index, which
summarizes stakeholders' perception on certain TRE dimensions, provides insight
into how conducive the environment is for further development and progress. The
most recent survey was conducted in July 2008 in eight Asian countries, including
Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Pakistan, Thailand, and the
Philippines. The tool measured seven dimensions: i) market entry; ii) access to scarce
resources; iii) interconnection; iv) tariff regulation; v) anti-competitive practices; and
vi) universal services; vii) quality of service, for the fixed, mobile and broadband
sectors.

The results for India, point out to the fact that the stakeholders perceive the TRE to
be most conducive for the mobile sector followed by fixed and then broadband. Other
than for Access to Scarce Resources the fixed sector lags behind the mobile sector.
The fixed and mobile sectors have the highest scores for Tariff Regulation. Market

36
entry also scores well for the mobile sector as competition is well entrenched with
most of the circles with 4–5 mobile service providers. The broadband sector has the
lowest score in the aggregate. The low penetration of broadband of mere 3.87 against
the policy objective of 9 million at then end of 2007 clearly indicates that the
regulatory environment is not very conducive.

Next generation Networks in India

In the Next Generation Networks, multiple access networks can connect customers to
a core network based on IP technology. These access networks include fibre optics or
coaxial cable networks connected to fixed locations or customers connected through
wi-fi as well as to 3G and 4G networks connected to mobile users. As a result, in the
future, it would be impossible to identify whether the next generation network is a
fixed or mobile network and the wireless access broadband would be used both for
fixed and mobile services.

It would then be futile to differentiate between fixed and mobile networks – both
fixed and mobile users will access services through a single core network. Most
telecom companies won 3G and 4G licences in a competitive auction. They have now
rolled out their third-generation (3G) mobile services since early 2010, but most
companies will officially launch fourth-generation (4G) mobile services based on LTE
or Long Term Evolution technology from 2012.

Indian telecom networks are not as intensive as developed country's telecom

networks and India's teledensity is low only in rural areas. 670,000 route kilometres
(419,000 miles) of optical fibres has been laid in India by the major operators, even in
remote areas and the process continues. BSNL alone, has laid optical fibre to 30,000
Telephone Exchanges out of their 36 Exchanges. Keeping in mind the viability of
providing services in rural areas, an attractive solution appears to be one which
offers multiple service facility at low costs. A rural network based on the

37
extensive optical fibre network, using Internet Protocol and offering a variety of
services and the availability of open platforms for service development, viz. the Next
Generation Network, appears to be an attractive proposition. Fibre network can be
easily converted to Next Generation network and then used for delivering multiple
services at cheap cost.

It has been correctly commented that by the year 2020, India may be at the fore-front
of latest wave of information tech, emerging as the next communication giant.

1.9: Brief study of progressive markets in China and America

and their influence on India
“They are such a big part of our daily lives that it is highly likely you will have a
mobile phone in your pocket right now. If you don't, it's probably because you left it
somewhere accidentally” (Aldridge 2004).

The cellular phone industry is one of the rare bright spots in Asian business (Roberts,
1998). China’s cell phone market has increased at an annual growth rate of 80% since
1990 (Statistics of CMII, 2005). In 2001, China’s cell phone market grew into 130
million users, exceeding the U.S.’s market for the first time (Robertson, 2001). And in
2004, Chinese cell phone user population reached 335 million (25% of the total
Chinese population), 65 million more than 2003 (Statistics of CMII, 2005).

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) listed China as its top priority in the SWOT
analysis. The country’s growing population and huge demand potential have always
been an attraction for many high-tech multinational companies.

Along with the increase of cell phone usage, the worldwide competition for the cell
phone market has been extremely intensified and should never be underestimated.

38
In Hong Kong, the competition is so fierce that the industry is in a game of “advertise
or die”--with an unsurprising $9 million monthly marketing budget (Madden, 1999).
There are already too many manufacturers selling too many models on China’s cell
phone market. More than 600 cell phone models, brought by 110 manufacturers, are
on sale at any one time, from small shops to giant electronics supermarkets (Motsay,
2004). Both domestic and international cell phone manufacturers are competing in
China with a variety of different marketing strategies and competitive advantages.
For instance, some companies are competing by promoting their high tech features.
Others compete by using the so-called “star power” of celebrity endorsement (i.e.,
movie stars) of their products.

A company competing with unique aesthetical features such as attractive

appearance, speed, color, shape, and the possibility of customization is not unusual.
These marketing strategies have been widely used in many different industries based
on the related market analysis about consumers purchasing behavior, especially the
influence of these so-called social influence groups.

Historically, the cell phone (also known as wireless phone, cellular phone, cordless
phone) has been priced expensively with the market dominated by business users
(Kendall, 1997). All over - the world cell phones were considered a status symbol for
the rich and famous during the early 1990s. In China, people still remember a
common scenario in which cell phone owners talked on their heavy and clumsy
handsets (called “big-brother”), anywhere and everywhere, with such a proud look on
their face and speaking so loudly- even in public places (on the train, on the streets,
in a hotel, or at bus stops). At that time, the famous marketing slogan for promoting
the use of the cell phone was: “One phone in hand, everything in your control.”

This statement sent a strong message to the society that the ownership of a cell
phone represented power, prestige, success, and wealth – given the fact that the

39
average price of a cell phone was close to two years’ salary of an average Chinese
worker at that time. In contrast, American cell phone consumers believed that when
they signed up with a cellular telephone service, a free phone was included. At that
time, it was the ownership of a cell phone, neither its technology nor its appearance
that distinguished the owner from others.

U.S. Electronic Industries Association’s (EIA) Consumer Electronics Group predicted

in 1994 that cellular phones would become a necessity for consumers. It was believed
that the flexibility and convenience offered by cellular phones ensured their
continued growth in this age of the information superhighway and advanced
telecommunications (Shapiro, 1994). The U.S. market was expected to reach a
penetration of 50% in 2005 (Scouras, 1995), but the real market growth has been
better than expected.

Today, strong new-subscriber growth and the replacement market keep raising the
handset sales in the U.S. cell phone market, with 74 percent of Americans viewed as
cell phone users (Palenchar, 2004). In terms of affordability, during the past 10 years
the advancement of technology and competition has led the decline in cell phone
prices (Kendall, 1997).

In China, the cell phone being viewed as an expensive luxury only affordable to the
power and the rich is long gone. Not only in all urban areas, but also in smaller towns
and remote rural farms, the cell phone has already become a common, affordable, and
convenient communication device–-almost a necessity in many rural areas. For users
in China’s income–constrained agricultural sector, sellers promote a “frugal” handset
that eliminates features such as displays and reduces service fees by offering prepaid
pay-per-call phone cards (Robertson, 2001). Today, one can easily find many
advanced, newly emerging generations of cell phones, that are much smaller, lighter,
better designed, and multi-functional—anywhere and everywhere these cell phones
are always on sale, with a much more affordable price-

40
-ranging from a basic model priced at a few hundred Chinese Yuan (half of the
average monthly salary), to an advanced model priced over two thousand Chinese
Yuan. The cell phone is now called “Shou-Ji,” meaning “phone-in-hand,” and there is
even a popular movie made to describe the Shou-ji users’ popular sub-culture in 2004.

Based on modern marketing theory and practice, it is believed that consumers’

purchase decisions are influenced by effective advertising and are more likely to
conform to reference groups’ influences. The purchase of products such as cellular
phones, which are used publicly, is strongly influenced by the consumer’s reference
groups (Bearden and Etzel, 1982; Bourne, 1957). Cell phone manufacturers have
already been practicing the different applications of this type of interpersonal
influence since its early years.

For example, handset makers mostly try to appeal female consumers via colorful
faceplates and shiny monochrome finishes. When Siemens launched a series of GSM
phones in the U.S. during fall 2002, it stressed personalization through color
faceplates and the tagline: “What does your phone say about you?”

Samsung launched phones that look like compact cases, complete with mirrors
inside. Some of the phones may even have gemstones accentuated on the faceplates
(Luna, 2002).

While traditional marketing and economic theories claim that a consumer’s

purchasing motivation is basically in relation to how a product (or a service) can
satisfy one’s needs, consumer behavior research on consumers’ social and
interpersonal environment has indicated - that the consumers’ final decision on
whether to buy a specific product and which brand or model to choose among
competing alternatives can be influenced by reference groups (such as friends, family,
work associates and so forth).

41
Social and interpersonal influence research can be traced back to Hyman (1942), who
first elaborated the term “reference group” when he asked respondents which
individuals or groups they compare themselves. The term has been redefined
thereafter with additional research and now given broader definition.

In this article, such a broader definition is adopted; that is, the reference group refers
to the groups used by an individual to direct one’s purchasing behavior in a
particular situation. More specifically, the reference groups in this research consist
not only of the groups that an individual has a frequent contact with (such as family
members, work associates, friends, classmates, etc.)

Bourne (1957) studied group influence in marketing and behavioral research and
concluded the concept of the reference group has a pervasive influence on marketing
studies. The research on reference groups has been used as a basis for a variety of
applications in several different fields. For example, it has been argued that the
reference group concept should be applied in behavior studies of specific groups, such
as: farmers, scientists, alcoholics, mentally ill patients, and of course, different
segments of consumers (Hyman and Singer, 1968).

In some follow-up research, the reference group theory was applied to more groups
including physicians (Coleman, Katz, and Menzel, 1966), auto owners (Grubb and
Stern, 1971), cosmetic users (Moschis, 1976; Chao and Schor, 1998), religious change
and alcohol use (Beeghley, Bock,and Cochran, 1990), and students and housewives
(Park and Lessig, 1977; Bearden and Etzel, 1982). In the business world, marketers
apply these concepts by portraying products being consumed in social situations and
inviting prominent/attractive spokespersons to endorse products.

42
There are published reports on the consumer behavior from the perspective of
reference group influence using the broadly defined concept. Witt and Bruce (1972)
suggested seven influence determinants including perceived risk, expertise of the
referent, and the individual’s need for social approval.

One study found that consumers used both reflective and comparative appraisal to
choose their products (Morchis, 1976). Another revealed that consumers would not
only apply direct and verbal interaction to obtain the evaluations from reference
group, but also observe reference group members’ behavior to make a decision.

This study suggested that the individual’s choice of different brands might also be
influenced by one’s reference groups (Bearden and Etzel, 1982). Comparing young
students with generally more conservative housewives, Park and Lessig (1977)
concluded that American students were more likely to be influenced reference groups
than general American housewives were when making their purchasing decisions,
and that the advertisements and promotions utilizing reference group had more a
direct and significant influence over consumers’ final purchases. In their research,
Park and Lessig (1977) developed the first set of scales for measuring reference group
influence functions, concluding that reference group influence varied across products.
Bearden, Netemeyer, and Teel (1989) believed that consumer susceptibility to
interpersonal influence is a general trait that varies across individuals and developed
a scale to measure it.

Becker (1991) found that the demand of a typical consumer is positively related to
quantities demanded by other consumers by exploring restaurant pricing. Wooten
and Reed (2004) suggested that consumers with high susceptibility to normative
influence tend to use protective self-presentation to avoid undesirable disapproval.
Researchers also believe that interdependent cultures such as China, Japan, Korea,
and most East Asian countries, emphasize conformity to group norms and social
acceptance (Zhou and Hui, 2003; Gürhan-Canli and Maheswaran, 2000; Han and

43
Schmitt, 1997; Triandis, 1995; Triandis and Gelfand, 1998). Wong and Ahuvia (1998)
also noted that there is a strong tendency for East Asians to consume luxuries
conspicuously to show their social status and wealth. McGuire (1968) concluded by
reviewing studies on American subjects that susceptibility to interpersonal influence
is a general trait that varies across different groups and individuals.

Following are some of the influences that have been derived by dissecting and
studying the above data.

Informational Influence
The informational influence is based on the desire to make informed decisions and
optimize the choice. Kelman (1961) suggested that an individual would accept an
influence that improves one’s knowledge and ability to cope with the environment.
The informational influence only functions when the individual regards the behavior
and value of reference group members as potentially useful information and takes
them into consideration. When a consumer lacks the knowledge of a certain product
and the experience of purchasing this item, one may perceive the information and
recommendation from his/her reference group as credible and thus accept them with
certain confidence.

Marketing practical applications can be seen from the use of expert power and
internalization in advertising with the ads that feature doctors (or actors)
impersonating doctors as spokespersons for over-the-counter medicines. A recent TV
advertisement tells viewers to: “Join the millions, switch to Netzero” (internet service
provider). When considering purchasing a cell phone, one may ask his/her friends and
family members for information about different brands and models in the purchasing
consideration, or one may also search online group discussions about cell phones in
comparing different brands and models.

44
Utilitarian Influence
This influence can be explained by the so-called “compliance process” in which an
individual is willing to satisfy a certain group’s expectation in order to obtain the
praise or to avoid the punishment from the group (Kelman, 1961). The best
demonstration for the utilitarian influence may be the famous Asch Experiment in
which participants were found to willingly conform to the group answers, even
changing their original right answers (Rock, 1990). Suggesting in the advertisements
that one may obtain social approval and acceptance by just using a certain
commodity, will have an influence on certain groups of consumers. Advertisements
for personal care products in which consumers are punished by co-workers or friends
for not using anti-dandruff shampoo, deodorant, or mouthwash, in fact, take
advantage of the reference group’s utilitarian influence.

Recent TV advertisement examples include: “Watch the show everybody's talking

about” (Nancy Grace's Show); and “I want people looking at my clothes and say:
‘WOW, you look great’” (Some retail store). A good example in the cell phone market
may be the fact that so many Chinese parents have complained about their children’s
falling grades in school because their kids had played too many video games in their
after school hours.

As a -result, those complaints might lower the student’s motivation to purchase the
N-Gage, a cell phone famous for its video game function.

Value-Expressive Influence
This influence may be best explained by the “identification process” in which people
are willing to better express themselves to the society by making themselves similar

45
to the group that they want to belong to (Kelman, 1961). Under this influence, one
may actively follow the groups’ beliefs and rules while neglecting the praises or
punishments and decide to completely accept and internalize the value of that
reference group. One good example of using this influence in marketing practice was
used by soft drink giant Pepsi; the company has aired its Young Generation brand
image extensively so that its targeted consumers have accepted the value of this
specific group.

Recent TV advertisement example includes, “See other women's success and learn
more” (Yogurt advertisement); “Dad: Life insurance is something parents buy and
benefit their children. Child: Do you have life insurance? Dad: Yes, of course.”
(Prudential Finance); “I'm protecting my family by Garden State Life Insurance; I do
the same, why don't you do the same with us?” (Garden State Life Insurance).

Sony has a famous celebrity playing a successful manager’s role in its Sony cell phone
advertisement implying that people who use the same cell phone will have the same
characteristics with that expected group. The Motorola’s i836 is a cell phone packed
with business-related features and applications. The clamshell-style phone has a
sleek design and color with no bright color faceplates, which is referred as the
executive gray (Shaw, 2005).

From the above introduction it is very clear as to why an extensive study of this
specific subject is needed to be carried out in India, which is 100+ million strong in
nationals, and each of those people having access to at least one or two mobile phones
or are in close range of one at any point of time.

The research study based in Kolkata city of West Bengal, India and is based nuclear
families as a basic premise that these families are the most forward and modern in
respect to other Urbanites.

46
It is based on data collected from 200 individuals over a period of two months ranging
from people shopping at open air markets to posh shopping malls. Catering to various
age groups, ranging from 25 to 56 and above, with incomes ranging from Rs. 10000
per month to Rs. 25000 and above.

This research study will attempt to establish a connection between, the cellular
phone buying pattern of individuals and the influence of family members on the
same, including sub studies on preferred shopping location for family shopping,
budget for shopping, brand preferred while shopping and others.

47
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

A paper on customer buying behavior by Birk

According to the New York State University Professor Birk, A, who authored the
short run but well appreciated titles ‘Understanding Consumer Behavior, Bentham
books, 1998’ and ‘Consumer Behavior: reaching into the family pocket, Penguin, 2001’
families are mostly like amoeba. And like amoeba, they act for the common whole.

The customer(S) who may or may not be the consumer, (Philip Kotler, 2001) are
thereby consciously or sub-consciously putting the need of the family first.

It is noticed that, the average JOE, or the Job Oriented Everyday person, will think
about the family while making most purchases. It is also noticed that, they take into
account, the options put forward by the family or the wife and kids, or parents, or
brothers and sisters, and respect the decisions made by them 8 out of 10 times

Two diagrams provided by Birk, tries to further elaborate the consumer mind set pre
and post marriage. This is generally accepted to be the focal point, from which a
family may start. He is not considering the previous generation people, who generally
do not comment on buying decisions and do not influence them. The first one is a
cynical view on the family man:

sacrifice

income selflessness

family
man

48
From the above diagram it can be clearly noted that Birk, has a bit cynical but
accurate view of the family man.

He further explains the influences on the family man with the following diagram;

This Diagram is the famous concentric circles diagram which is looking or rather,
examining the pressure of influence on average family man. A character, cynically
acclaimed by the author as the base pillar for every family, shaking which, would
send tremors throughout the entire structure of ‘ESTABLISHMENT” in this case, the
family. This is mostly noticed in cases where the family is ‘Nuclear’, however, for
conventionally ‘Joint’ family structure, where the pressures of expectation is
somewhat released, by the involvement of multiple earning heads, such a structure of
compounded expectation pressure cannot exist.

The Diagram has been however criticized by several customer behavior researchers,
mostly female, saying it portrayed the ‘wife’ in a negative light. Birk simply reacted
to these reactions, as, ‘It is true. So they are getting stung.’

wife

friends

children

consumer
family man

It is noted that his view states that the Wife, being the home-maker, is the primary
influencer while the Friends and the Children are the lesser evils.

Birk further explores the above mentioned concept in regards of the Apple I phone, a
phenomenon currently going on strong for nearly a decade.He notes 3 facts after
deducting data from a survey conducted by his own team of 5 esteemed colleagues

49
and 10 promising students of Masters of Business Administration at New York State
University.

He attempts to explain them as given below.

1. Money Factor:

For any discerning individual buying a cellular device this is the primary cause of
concern. That individual is essentially trying to maintain a dignified standard at a
fixed income, as dictated by his monthly salary slip. The money factor becomes also
important when, “You don’t got the money like everybody else.” Quote Professor Birk.
For a cellular device buying customer, this is cause for worry and concern as he may
even invite the annoyance of the fellow shoppers and be judged in negative light by
the shop owner, where he has gone to buy his cellular device. He terms this peculiar
phenomenon, not limited to United States of America, but equally infecting all parts
of the country as “Customer Discrimination.”

2. Family Factor:

This is the 2nd worst denominator for any providing individual, as according to Birk.
Common to family owners from both genders, this is cause for mixed results, while
viewing from the perspective of the provider.

It is to be noted that Birk, assumes that a family has one earning head. While this
has been questioned by many prominent authors from the field, Birk defends his line
of thought by contemplating and proving that nearly 80% of American Households
have a single earning head. So few exceptions where both the husband and wife were
working, considering a normal heterogeneous system, was not going to ‘Shake’ the
foundation of his work. Birk notes that the family factors such as number of children,
whether previous generation is alive/dead and whether the couple is planning to have
a second child, greatly influences the cellular budget.

50
3. Peer Factor:

“Men are hard wired to be jealous. Contrary to popular belief, Men are affected by the
green eyed monster, at least 150% more than Ladies.” Birk, A. (1997)The results
found above in Birks 1997 study conducted with 6 prominent male figures from
various walks of society, are also echoed in his latest (2009) work based on Cellular
devices and their particular impact on several Males and their peers. Birk notes that
peer pressure is a wonderful thing for marketers who want to sell a particular
product. Cellular device marketers sometimes take direct approach from this cue,
and form Ad campaigns which directly appeal to the peer factor.

A recent example is the Blackberry Ad, where individuals are identifying themselves
as Blackberry Users, and are shown to be enjoying life, inside and outside the office.
The ad ends with the actors and actresses in them, openly inviting the audience to be
a part of the Blackberry club and ‘Belong’ to the new ‘Revolution’.This ad been openly
blasted by several prominent authors including Birk, and has been used as a basis for
proving that Peer factor plays a negative role in promoting products.

Birk notes the following points about peer factor.

1. May not always be negative and helps to promote a product.

2. May be detrimental to psychological health.

3. May promote Product Clubs as a healthy way to deal with Peer factor and
pressure.

Birk mentions the best way to fight peer pressure is to simply ignore it and
acknowledge one’s own need to buy the product and measure its power. If the need is
truly overwhelming, the customer is allowed to pursue that goal. However, if the
customer is able to identify that he wants to buy the product, simply because one of
his friends has it, then he or she is advised to refrain immediately as it is ultimately
unhealthy for both his income and psychological health.
51
 CHAPTER 3: OBJECTIVES

The study shall focus on the following objectives:

1. To find out the influence of family members on major buying decisions.

2. To find out the influence of family members on detailed aspects regarding

frequency of purchase, quality of product purchased, amount spent on a single bill
and others.

3. To find out approximate importance given to each family member, by the

principal buying head of the family.

4. To find out the results for a standard Kolkata based nuclear Family. (Father,
mother, 1 or 2 children)

52
 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY

Method:
Data source: Primary and secondary data.

Approach adopted: Survey Approach

Methodology adopted: Exploratory method.

Instrument used: Questionnaire.

Primary and secondary data were used for the research study. For the actual study, an
exploratory approach coupled with survey based research technique, with the help of
questioner was found to be best suited. In aid of the study, several well known shopping
destinations were visited over the course of 2 months, and approximately 200 individuals
were interviewed, based on the Polling Instrument attached in the Annexure.

Primary data is based on the direct information provided by respondents who chose to give
information based on the polling instrument. Alongside primary data collected, relevant
material aiding the study was collected from various books and the internet.

Sample:

Sampling Unit:
The Sampling unit chosen for this study is Kolkata, West Bengal.

Sampling Size:
For this study a sample size of 200 was selected.

Place of sampling:
The sampling was carried out at City Centre Mall Salt Lake, I.A. block local Market
Salt Lake, Lakeville Township, Kolkata, and VIP Market, Kankurgachi.

53
Data collection:

Primary data:

Primary data was collected on location with the aid of a simple questionnaire which
the respondent was asked to fill up. The respondent was asked to be as truthful as
possible while giving responses and to be as free from bias as possible. The data was
collected from 3 locations, namely, City Centre, the premiere shopping location in
Kolkata area, IA market, the local mall like shopping location featuring a watered
down experience of City Centre, and the famous open air Market at Lake Town.

Secondary data:

Secondary data was collected from various websites including WIKIPEDIA and
GOOGLE.COM, including various study material and reference books collected from
various locations, including Libraries (For older books) and market (For newer
publications). Data collected for various surveys like COSMOPOLITAN magazine
survey, FORBES economic survey and INDIA TODAY business survey 2009.

Questionnaire:

This method is most popular .The questionnaire is sent to the person concerned to
answer the questions formatted and return the same soon. A Questionnaire consists
of a number of questions printed or typed in definite order on a form or set of forms.
The Questionnaire is sent to the respondents. In order to achieve the research
objective it is necessary to collect accurate and relevant data, secondary data are
already published data collected for purposed other than the specific research needs
at hand. For this study, a simple multiple choice Questionnaire was used, which
directed Respondents to answer a few simple questions of Class Based Non Specific
Nature to aid in collection of data.

54
Time duration and location:

The synopsis for the research study was finished in the period of 4 weeks,
approximately in the month of January 2012. The data collection was completed in
the month of February and March 2012, while data was completely processed during
the month of April 2012. The research study was edited and finalized and submitted
in May 2012.

55
 CHAPTER 5: LIMITATIONS

The following limitations were faced during conducting of this research study.

1. Biased reply was given by most respondents, when asked for their honest opinion.

2. Information given by the respondent was ambiguous and found to be false when
cross referenced.

3. Only 2 people in every 10 approaches were ready to answer, even on an

anonymous basis.

4. Access to interior of City Centre Mall was not allowed by Security Personnel, so a
better and more accurate data of Mall going individuals is lacking.

5. Family groups were found to have given miss-matching responses when the
answers from the Husband and Wife were tallied.

6. This study is carried out in only a few areas of Kolkata.

7. This study is based on GSM customers. CDMA and DUAL GSM users are left out.
So their data is missing from analysis.

8. This study is based on simple Cellular Device. Sub categories of Cellular devices
such as Android devices and Tablets are not included in this study.

9. This is based on standard Nuclear family.

10. Time constraint did not allow inclusion of a larger sample size.

56
 CHAPTER 6: DATA ANALYSIS

Demographic Profile:

Table 1: Age
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents:
25-35 20 20%
36-45 34 34%
46-55 32 32%
56 + 14 14%

Graphical Representation 1: Respondents from Age groups.

Age groups of various respondents

200
180
160
140
120
100 Age groups of various
80 resppondents
60
40
20
0
25-35 years 36-45 years 46-55 years 56 above

Interpretation:
It can be clearly noted thhat the 35-45 age group individuals are the most prolific
shoppers and will also have most per capita influence on the market conditions and
can be expected to exhibit the most varied Cellular Phone Purchase behavior, along
with the most varied spennding patterns other than any groups of age, regardless of
Gender or Income.

57
Table 2: Gender:

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respondents:
Male: 45 45%
Female: 55 55%

Graphical Representation 2: Gender of Respondents

Gender of Respondents
200
180
160
140
120
100
Gender of Respondents
80
60
40
20
0
Male Female

Interpretation:
Confirming popular beliefs, it is seen that Females are the most prolific shoppers and
also the most forward among respondents and are eager to be heard and ready to
express their opinions, even on an anonymous basis.

58
Table 3: Education:
Category of Respondents: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents’:
Higher Secondary or 15 15%
Equivalent.
Graduate: 43 43%
Post Graduate: 18 18%
Others: 24 24%

Graphical Representation 3: Education received by

Respondent.

Education Received
15%
25%

HS
Grad
PG
Others
118%
43%

Interpretation:
It is clearly seen from the above diagram that more Graduate individuals are present
among the average group of shoppers than was present even a decade ago, echoing
the result and predictions of a study by COSMOPOLITAN magazine. This is
reassuring to the marketers as they are able to preach to a knowledgeable public, and
are certain that the messages they are trying to convey are reaching the public.

59
Table 4: Occupation:
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respon dents:
Privately Employed 50 50%
Govt. Employee 45 45%

Others 5 5%

Graphical Representation 4: Occupation of the Respondent.

Occcupation of the Respondent

5%

Privately Employed

50% Govt. Employee

45% Others

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that most people have lost faith in a government job,
and are simply opting for easier to get, but tougher to maintainn private jobs. Such
individuals are naturally accounting for at least 50% of the customer base of any
shopping enterprise, be it a government run one (Samavayika) or Private one (City
centre, Big Bazaar and others).

60
Table 5: Income
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents:
10000-15000 30 30%
15001-20000 45 45%
20001-25000 20 20%
25001 and above 5 5%

Graphical representation 5: Income of the Respondent

Income of Respondent
200.00
180.00
160.00
140.00
120.00
100.00
80.00 Income of Respondent

60.00
40.00
20.00
0.00
10-15000 15-20000 20-25000 25000 +

Interpretation:
From the above data it is quite clear that though individuals falling under the
highest income margin are still very rare and the average shop going individual can
be safely assumed to havve an income of Rs. 10000 to Rs. 15000 per month. This
figure is dramatically inncreased from the 2001 Forbes Interrnational Economic
Survey, carried out in areas such as Ghana, India, and other regions; this is good
news for Cellular Phone marketers as they would be able to m arket much pricier
handsets without worrying that they might fail in the end markeet.

61
Customer Buying D ecision:

Table 6:- When asked about the frequency of market visits.

Category No. of Respondent Percentage of Respondent

Daily 24 24%
Weekly 43 43%
Monthly 16 16%
Others 17 17%

Graphical representation 6: Frequency of Shopping

Frequency of Shopping

200

150

100 Frequency

50

0
Daily Weekly Monthly Others

Interpretation:
From the above data, it is clearly seen that most customers prefer weekend shopping
to other types. This may be because of the advent of globalization in even our daily
lives, where the ‘weekend’ culture of European and American nations are having a
great impact. It is having a great impact here as well with 43% of respondents
shopping weekly.
62
Table 7:- When asked whether respondent visits with family:
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of Respondents
:
Yes 55 55%
No 45 45%

Graphical representation 7: Respondent visiting with family.

Visiting With Family

No
45%

Yes
55%

Interpretation:
From the above graph it can be interpreted that the average shopper visits with his
or her family members as it gives a more enriched shopping exxperience. This also
indicates that more and more individuals are indulging in family shopping outings.
This is favorable for cell-phone buying as the family can influence the individual to
make the best suitable choices. This value is sharply contrasting from previous data
found.

63
Table 8: When asked about principal purchase item.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respondents:
Food: 10 10 %

Clothing: 18 18 %
Stationery: 20 20 %
Electronics: 33 33 %
Others: 19 19 %

Graphical representation 8: Principal Purchase Item

Principal Purchases
10%
20%
Food
18%
clothing
stationery
electronics

33% 20% others

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that though food purchases still are a staple
commodity on every marketers shopping list, yet in today’s electronic media oriented
world, most people visit the shopping location for buying electronics. This translates
to better profits for the cellular device manufacturer. As invariably a bulk amount of
these purchases are cellular devices or cellular device related.

64
Table 9: When asked about the chief motivation for purchases
made.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respondennts:
Children: 35 35%

Wife / Husband: 20 20%

Parents : 18 18%

Others: 27 27%

Graphical representation 9: Motivations for purchase

Motivation for purchase

28%
35%
Children
Wife/Husb.
Parents
Others
17%

20%

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that the immediate family consisting of spouse and
children are the most powerful motivators for making any purchase decision. The
children are especially powerful motivating factors and are chieffly responsible for a
bulk amount of cellular p hone purchases made in any family consisting of 1 or more
children.

65
Table 10: When asked about the influences in Cellular Device
purchase decisions, exempting family influences.

Category: No. of respondents: Percentage of

Respon dents:
Advertisements: 23 23%
Friends/Peer group advice: 38 38%
Colleagues: 25 25%
Others: 14 14%

Graphical representation 10: Influences other than family

Non-Family Influences
15%
22%

AAdvertisements
FFriends/Peer
25%
CColleagues
OOthers

38%

Interpretation:
From the above chart it is clear the friends and peer group advice is the greatest non
familial influence when considering all the factors that may affect a purchasing
decision. A reason for this may be the customer’s sense of pride and vanity which
influences a majority of buying decisions. In the case of cellular phone purchases, this
is greatly visible as the customer may be indirectly presssurized by the peer group to
adopt newer technologies.

66
Table 11: When asked about prioritization while purchasing
cellular device for family.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respondents:
Children: 50 50%
Wife/Husband: 25 25%
Parents: 10 10%
Others: 15 15%

Graphical representation 11: Priority given while purchasing

cellular phone for family.

Priority while purchasing cellphone

15%
children
10% wife/Husb.
50%
Parents
25% others

Interpretation:
Children are the chief mootivating factors while buying cellular phone devices. It is
also to be noted that due to certain influences are also at work prompting parents to
buy cellular devices for their offspring. The need for security and the way to keep a
tag on the children are the chief motivating factors which drive parents to purchase
cellular devices for their children, once they are old enough to unnderstand the value
of one and know; it is not merely a play item and is a serious means of
communication. Sharply contrasting with Cosmopolitan Magazines 2005 study, in
2011, 9 out of 10 children interviewed have cellular devices.

67
Table 12: When asked whether family had a positive role in
cellular purchase decision.
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents:
Yes: 63 63%

No: 37 37%

Graphical representation 12: Positive role of family

Positive role of family

200
180
160
140
120
100
80 Postive role of family
60
40
20
0
Yes No

Interpretation:
From the above chart it is clear that the majority of the customers are positively
influenced by families while making purchasing decisions. This is very encouraging
for cellular phone marketers as they would be able to proomote a marketing
campaign aimed towards the family members. It can be credited that the cellular
market boom is in majoritty due to the involvement of families in making purchasing
decisions. Especially as knowledge about the product, its features and applications
are more readily known to the family members in lots of cases, rather than the
prospective customer.

68
Table 13: When asked about the shopping location preference
while shopping in general.
Category: No. of respondents: Percentage of
Responndents:
Local market: 38 38%

Mall: 45 45%

Open air market: 15 15%

Others: 2 2%

Graphical representation 13: Preference of shopping location

Genera l Shopping Location Preference

3%

15%
37% Local Market

Mall
Open air market
Others
45%

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear, that most people prefer to shop in malls. There may
be several factors motivaating this choice. Primarily most peopple prefer to match
their outlook with their shopping locations as well. This means, the CEO of a
company would seldom be seen shopping at a general shopping location. That person
would seek out a shopping location matching his or herr lifestyle. So malls are the
best choice. Apart from this malls also provide a measure of security and comfort
seldom found anywhere else,prompting more footfalls.

69
Table 14: When asked whether respondent is from single
income family.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respo ndents:
Yes: 40 40%

No: 60 60%

Graphical representation 14: Whether from single income family

Respondent from single income Family

200

150

100 Respondent from single

income Family
50

0
Yes No

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clearly visible that overall economic sttatus of the average
Indian family has increased drastically over the last decadee, according to the
Cosmopolitan Magazine survey of Indian Families 2001. This can be credited to fact
that most urbanites recoggnize the need for higher education in females and do not
force marital decisions among them. This translates to more and more families
having 2 or more earning members. This is very encouraging for cellular device
marketers, as this automatically translates to the need for one or more phones per
individual per family.

70
Table 15: Whether Respondent influences Cellular Phone
purchasing decision of family.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percenntage of

Respondents:
Yes: 58 58%

No: 42 42%

Graphical representation 15: Respondent Influencing Mobile

purchasing decision.

Respondent influencing cellular purchase

Decision
200

150

100 Respondentt influencing cellular

purchase deecision
50

0
Yes No

Interpretation:
From the above data we can prove that the family has a positive role in making a
purchase decision and sttill is largely dependent upon each other while making
important purchase decisiions like cellular device selections. It iss also clear that the
respondent has a clear role in the decisions made and is not simpply a source of funds
for the family. This condition may also be interpreted as the large number of negative
replies would summarize that each member of the family is becoming more
independent than that was seen a decade ago in 2001.

71
Table 16: When asked about the frequency of change of cellular
device

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respondents:
6 months: 23 23%

12 months: 25 25%

2 years: 38 38%

5 years: 14 14%

Graphical representation 16: Frequency of change of

cellular phone device.

Frequency of change of cellular device

15%
22%
6 months
12 months
2 years
25%
38% 5 years

Interpretation:
It is evident from the above data that despite the entry of frequeent mobile shoppers
into the segment, who may change their cellular devices even in less than 6 months
time frame, the market is dominated by customers with 2 year time frames. This
sharply coincides with the price VS technology index as tabulated by Forbes
Magazine, which suggests that however new the technology, it is going to be
affordable to the general public in approximately 2 years time frame.

72
Table 17: When asked if Respondent prefers Smart-phone over
ordinary cellular phone.

Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of

Respo ndents:
Yes: 65 65%

No: 35 35%

Graphical representation 17: Smart-Phone preference

Smart-Phone Preference
200
180
160
140
120
100
Smarrt-Phone Preference
80
60
40
20
0
yes no

Interpretation:
From the above data is possible to comment that most people now prefer smart-
phones over normal phone types. It is to be noted that the price of smart phones have
dropped sharply from their introduction into the market in the year 2006, to being in
reach of 95.6% of the cellular device market, as of January ’12. The deliberate choice
of smart cellular devices can also be traced to the recent advent of Social Networking
websites and the need to be connected to them , on the go.

73
Table 18: When asked about Brand preference.
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Responndents:
Nokia: 20 20%
Samsung: 35 35%
HTC: 6 6%
Sony Ericson: 10 10%
Others: 29 29%

Graphical representation 18: Brand Preference

Brand Preferred

19%
30% Nokia
Samsung
HTC
Sony Ericson
10%
35% others
6%

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that Taiwanese Cell Phone giantt, Samsung, being a
relatively new entry into our market, now holds the major share of the market. This
has prompted by Poor Product and pricing quality of other brands, Prone to
breakdown tendencies and poor overall features per money spent ratio present in
other devices. However it is to be noted that Local Brands like Micromax, Onida,
MVL, Lava, Karbonn an d others are fast becoming the preferred choice. Thus
reducing the average price tag from over 6-7000/- to less than or equal to 4000/- for a
standard handset with latest features according to Forbes Survvey of 2006-2007.

74
Table 19: If Respondent takes family advice while purchasing
costly cellular device
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Responndents:
Yes: 85 85%

No: 15 15%

Graphical representation 19: Advice taken for costly cell

purchase

Advice taken for costly cellular purchase

200

150

100 Advice taken for costly cellular

purchase
50

0
Yes No

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that though many factors may be present while
making a purchase decisioon, families’ advice is still sought while purchasing a costly
cellular device. It is to be noted that all customers would seek family advice before
buying a mobile phone costing above Rs. 5000, as they believve it is primarily a
blocking of money which could be useful elsewhere, secondarily, the cellular device,
no matter how costly would ultimately become outdated. The resst of the market not
seeking family advice will still seek the advice from groups like friends and
colleagues before purchasing a cellular device. However, it is to be noted that family
advice has a positive effeect on cellular device purchasing behavior, reinforces the
same.
75
Table 20: when asked about largest amount denoted to cellular
purchase
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents:
Rs. 1000 – Rs. 5000 63 63%
Rs. 5001 – Rs. 10000 28 28%
Rs. 10001 – Rs. 15000 8 8%
Rs. 15001 + 1 1%

Graphical representation 20: Amount spent for cellular purchase

Amount Spent on Cellular Phone

3%

8%
Rss. 1000 - Rs. 5000
Rss. 5000 - Rs. 10000
27%
Rss. 10000 - Rs. 15000
62%
Rss. 15000 and Above

Interpretation:
It is clear from the data above that though there has been an increase in the Rs. 5000
to Rs. 10000 markets in the last decade; the market at present is being crowded by
customers who prefer Cellular devices in the Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 bracket. This can
be traced to the fact that most people in the market are having multiple cellular
devices with each member of the family owninng more than 2 and even 4 handsets in
some cases. The popularity of the low priced phones is further ensured by the
presence of features present in the big brothers of the same line. The above 15000/-
mark cellular devices are still largely the region of corporate heads and are
inaccessible to thee normal crowd.

76
Table 21: If respondent’s cellular budget is influenced by
children’s opinion
Category: No. Of Respondents: Percentage of
Respondents:
Yes: 38 38%
No: 62 62%

Graphical representation 21: Children’s influence on cellular

budget

Children's Influence on Cellular Budget

200
180
160
140
120
100
Children Influence Cellular
80
Budget
60
40
20
0
Yes/No

Interpretation:
From the above data, it is evident that, though children play an integral role in the
decision making process which contributes towards the final cellular purchase being
made, they are increasingly not a part of the decision for fixing the budget to buy a
cellular device. According to Time Magazine customer survey 2006-2009, Children
are a major influence in cellular purchases as they are able to inform the adults on
all the latest options available before purchasing a cellular device. However, only
world weary adults set the final budget.

77
Table 22: Choice of location while buying costly cellular phone
Category: No. of Respondents: Category of Respondents:

Local: 18 18%

Mall: 53 53%

Authorized Dealer: 23 23%

Other: 6 6%

Graphical representation 22: choice of location for costly cell

purchase

choice of location while buying costly cellular device

3%

18%
24% Local

Mall
Authorised dealer
others

55%

Interpretation:
From the above data it is clear that the shopping Mall is the prime location to buy
cellular telephone device which is above a certain price range. While some people
may opt for local market and online buying while purchasing costly cellular phone
device, most of the customers prefer the Mall to shop for the same. According to the
Cosmopolitan Men’s Magazine Survey 2008, most buyers prefer to shop at malls, as
there are a large number of shops offering a number of items. Most customers prefer
malls to authorized dealers, as authorized dealers have only a single stock, as
compared to other shopping outlets.

78
Table 23: Awareness of 3g connectivity, among respondents
Category: No. of Respondents: Percentage of
Respon dents:
Yes 38 38%
No 63 63%

Graphical representation 23: Awareness of 3g connectivity

among respondents

Aware of 3g connectivity
200
180
160
140
120
100
80 Aware of 3g connectivity
60
40
20
0
yes no

Interpretation:
Though most people are technologically savvy and are aware of connectivity options
like GPRS and EDGE, they are still unaware of 3g connectivity, chiefly due to the
stiff price tags attached too the service. Though most people are able to afford GPRS
connectivity, which cost as less as Rs. 48 per month on some networks, it is
impossible for nearly 95%% of the current market to afford a 3gg connection, which
may cost more than Rs. 10000/ month for a single Gigabyte of data usage.

79
 CHAPTER 7: RESEARCH FINDINGS
The following details were found in the course of the research study.

1. Most family groups visiting market for cellular purchase was a 2 person team
consisting of Father/Mother, and Child, while single people buying cellular devices
mainly consult the internet.

2. Nearly all people agree that buying a mobile phone should be a family decision,
wherever it is applicable.

4. Malls have the largest collection of Cellular Devices, but least knowledgeable staff.

5. Fancy Market, Kidder-purr, sells nearly 50000 individual Chinese branded

telephones set in-spite of ban imposed by government.

6. Most people buy Camera mobile phones, and are aware of services like photo
upload to Facebook. Nearly 6 in 8 individuals upload photographs snapped on mobile
cameras on the go.

7. Tata Docomo is the street favorite among students for making calls and Short
messaging service utilization. Reliance Smart and Idea are least preferred brands,
whereas, Airtel is primary choice for 3g customers as it gives 10 gigabyte of data
usage at Rs. 1250 for 30 days.

10. Samsung is the most favored brand among Cellular phone customers, while
Nokia is rapidly becoming the least favored brand.

12. People below poverty line are also users of mobile phones, each having handsets
costing no more than Rs. 1000, and with prepaid spending of Rs. 50 per month.

13. Hybrid Tablet Cellular phones are also rapidly gaining popularity, but are out of
reach of 96% of the market; whereas I- phone is the least selling mobile phone, with
roughly 150 handsets sold in the last year.

80
14. City Centre 1, Salt Lake and Pantaloons, Salt Lake, are the number 1 and 2
choice for mall going individuals buying cellular phone.

16. Most customers use cellular phone as device. 8 out 10 individuals mentioned
using it as a Wi-Fi device for tethering with their Laptop.

17. About 50 % of respondents interviewed, admitted to have given a cellular phone

as gift in a wedding. Compared to Gold ornaments, it is much cheaper.

18. Teenagers admitted as using phone as gaming device, more than using Short
Messaging Service, or Calling peers.

19. 6 out of 8 individuals admitted using phone as ‘All in One’ device. This means
that they have eliminated the need for other devices like Music System, Video
Players, Internet Devices and others, in favor of a single invested device.

20. Newlywed couples admitted to buying ‘Pair’ of phones, or 2 of the same device, to
commemorate the joyous occasion and keep an exclusive line of contact between
them.

21. About 350,000 mobile handsets are stolen every year.

22. 7 out 9 people admit to having more than one cellular phone, of dual sim or
single sim variety.

23. 4 out 10 people have lost 12 or more mobile phones over a 10 year period.

24. 9 out of 10 people admitted to carrying an emergency cellular phone.

25. Kolkata has the biggest industry selling refurbished phones, totaling INR 50
crores per quarter.

26. 10 out 10 people agreed that mobiles are indispensible and cannot imagine life
without them.

81
 CHAPTER 8: SCOPE OF FURTHER RESEARCH
Further research on this topic may be carried out in the following direction.

1. A system of sorting out Biased replies need to be devised and the research may
be repeated with the process to obtain more accurate results.

2. The above research may be repeated with a larger sample than 200 to obtain
better results, with specific emphasis on market areas frequented by consumers. A
separate study may be conducted for Malls, Local Open Air markets and others.

4. The research may be carried out with CDMA handset users, as the above research
study is based on primarily GSM handsets.

5. The study may also be carried out with reference to specific carriers preferred by
GSM set users, irrespective of Make or Model of the device. A connected study may be
to specifically find out carrier preference of special set users. (Example- cellular
carrier preferred by 3g set users.)

6. This study may be repeated with emphasis on Joint family basis in order to
understand influences from that specific point of view.

7. Only a few areas of Kolkata were selected for carrying out the research, the
research may be carried out again with emphasis on a large number of areas from
Kolkata.

8. Specific study for Teenagers using Mobile phones may be carried out in-order to
understand their influence in the mobile phone buying process.

9. This same study may be carried out for customers purchasing Tablet cellular
phones, which is a relatively new market.

10 .This researches may be repeated with larger sample size and larger time frame to
get a better understanding of the market and the influence of the customer on the
same.

82
 CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSION

This research study dealt with the problem of 'Influence of family on customer
buying behavior, A study in Mobile phones'.

Over the course of the study, which spanned more than 3 months, approximately 200

individuals were approached, data collected from them and processed accordingly.

During the course of processing, the following points were noted.

The average customer shops on weekends.

The average customer has more electronics purchases than what he or she had
a decade ago.

The average customer brings his or her family to shop.

Children are the greatest motivation and priority while purchasing cellular
device.

Greater number of respondents admitted that family had positive role in

cellular purchase.

Greater numbers of respondents were not from single income families, and
they also divulged that they influenced the purchase decision of other family
members, regarding cellular devices.

Corresponding to the points given above are the relevant data found all over the web,
which suggests that cellular device purchase has increased exponentially in India,
and the average customer has more than one mobile handset to call his or her own.
Also greater number of children and teen agers has access to cellular devices in West
Bengal, than in an equally progressive locality.

In the course of the interview it was plainly observed that about 80% of the

83
respondents were with family. Most of them showed proof of purchase that they
recently bought a cellular device, and they did it with gusto.

Meaning that it was no longer just the rich and powerful that had access to multiple
cellular devices, and for most Indian families, buying a cellular device was a typically
fun family outing.

From the elucidations given above, we can clearly see that all of it points to one
direction.

The typical West Bengali customer is positively influenced by family, during

formulation of buying decision.

It can be noted further that families also influence important purchase location
selection decisions and may heavily influence budget opted for cellular device
purchase, including selection of carrier for use with the cellular device.

In conclusion it can be rightly commented that cellular phones have firmly become
part and parcel of West Bengali life, in spite of it being a fairly new introduction,
with the first call being made in 1995 by Honorable Ex Chief Minister Shree Jyoti
Basu. In the coming years it will only become more indispensible to our lives
replacing all other devices and becoming one single entity of technological brilliance.

84
 CHAPTER 10: REFERENCES

1. Wikipedia and Google. Various articles.

2. Hansen, T. (2005). Perspectives on consumer decision making: An integrated

approach. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 4(6), 420-437.
3. Birk, A. (1999). Consumer behavior: a view from behind the counter. An essay
on consumer behavior, 100-105.
4. Saral Bapari: Grahak KO samjiye. Govt. Of West Bengal (1978). ( an essay on
understanding consumers )
5. Shiv, B., & Fedorikhin, A. (1999). Heart and mind in conflict: The interplay of
affect and cognition in consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer
Research, 26 (December), 278-292

6. "Highlights of Telecom Subscription Data as on 31st December, 2011". TRAI. 8

October 2011.

7. "Internet Usage in Asia". International Telecommunications Unit: Asian

Internet Users. ITU.

8. Dharmakumar, Rohin (19 October 2011). "India Telcos: Battle of the Titans".
Forbes.

9. Kannan, Shilpa (7 April 2010). "India's 3G licence bidders bank on big

changes". BBC News.

10. "Indian telecom market to be at Rs 344,921 crore by 2012". Economic Times

(India). 25 March 2011.

11. "Telecom sector revenue grows 7% in FY '11". The Hindu. 21 March 2011.

12. "Public Works Department". Pwd.delhigovt.nic.in. .

13. Vatsal Goyal, Premraj Suman. "The Indian Telecom Industry". IIM Calcutta.

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14. http://dxm.org/techonomist/news/vsnlnow.html

15. "Indian Government". Dot.gov.in. Retrieved 1 September 2010.

16. Dash, Kishore. "Veto Players and the Deregulation of State-Owned

Enterprises: The Case of Telecommunications in India" (PDF). Retrieved 26
June 2008.

17. "Draft Information Paper on Dial-up Internet Access" (PDF). Retrieved 1

September 2010.

18. "GSM, CDMA players maintain subscriber growth momentum-Telecom-News

By Industry-News-The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 18
March 2009.

19. "Govt bans import of Chinese mobiles, dairy products, toys". Times of India. 18
June 2009.

20. Rhys Blakely (10 May 2010). "India blocks deals with Chinese telecoms
companies over cyber-spy fears". The Times (London).

21. "China avoids condemning India over Huawei ZTE ban". Economic Times
(India). 17 May 2010.

22. Mehul Srivastava and Mark Lee. "India Said to Block Orders for China Phone
Equipment". Business Week.

23. Payal Malik. "Telecom Regulatory and Policy Environment in India: Results
and Analysis of the 2008 TRE Survey". LIRNEasia.

24. Press Release no. 60/2006 issued on 28 June 2006 by TRAI

25. "Is 2012 the year for India's internet?" BBC News. 3 January 2012.

26. "Hindu Net". Hinduonnet.com.

27. Press Release No. no. 35/2006 issued on 10 April 2006 by TRAI

86
28. "India Telecom market growth and subscribers 2010” public data.

29. GSM and CDMA operators April 2010 data". Telecomindiaonline.com.

30. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Kolkata-connects-India-to-
4G-era/articleshow/12617655.cms

31. "The death of STD". The Indian Express. 12 October 2006.

32. "Free broadband, rent-free landlines likely: Maran". Rediff.com. 31 December

2004.

33. "Mobile number portability: Switch tele operator!". oneindia.in. 20 January

2011.

34. http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PressRealease/Document/quarterly%2
0press%20release.pdf

35. "Is 2012 the year for India's internet?". BBC News. 3 January 2012.

36. "OECD Broadband Portal". oecd.org.

37. "India ranks 115th in net connection speed" (doc). Rediff.com.

38. "Japanese Broadband World's Fastest, Cheapest – Iceland Cools off in Global
Broadband Penetration Rankings – US Broadband Penetration Grows to
85.9% Among Active Internet Users – November 2007 Bandwidth Report".
WebSiteOptimization.com. 24 March 2004.

39. "Broadband speeds around the world". BBC News. 2 December 2007.

40. "India Seeks Access to the Broadband Highway". Bloomberg Business Week.

87
 ANNEXURE
Section A: Demographic Profile
Name: __________________________________

Age:

25 to 35 years
36 to 45 years
46 to 55 years
56 and above

Gender:

Male
Female

Income:

Rs. 10000 – Rs. 15000

Rs. 15001 – Rs. 20000
Rs. 20001 – Rs. 25000
Rs. 25001 and above

Occupation:

Government
Employee
Privately Employed
Others:

Education:

Higher Secondary (H.S)

Graduate
Post Graduate
Others:

88
Section B: Consumer Buying Behaviour
1. Frequency of visit to shopping location.

Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Others

2. Do you visit with Family?

YES
NO

3. What is your principal purchase item?

Food
Electronics
Clothing
Stationary

4. Who motivates you for cell-phone purchase?

Children
Wife / Husband
Parents
Others

5. Other than your family, what/who influences your cellular purchase decisions?
Advertisements
Friend/Peer group
advice
Colleagues
Others

89
6. Who do you give most Priority to while purchasing Cellular Device for your
family?

Children
Wife /husband
Parents
Others

7. Would you say your family has a positive role in making Cellular Phone purchase
decisions?

YES
NO

8. Where do you prefer to shop, in general?

Local market
Mall
Open air Market
Others

9. Are you from a single income family?

YES

NO

10. Do you influence the cellular phone purchasing decisions of other members of
your family?

YES

NO

90
11. How frequently do you change your cellular device?

6 months
12 months
2 years
5 years and above

12. Do you prefer a Smartphone? (Example: - I phone)

YES
NO

13. Which brand do you buy?

Nokia
Samsung
HTC
Sony Ericson
Others

14. Do you take families advice while purchasing costly cellular phone? (I.e. above
Rs. 10,000)

YES
NO

15. What is the biggest amount you have spent on cellular phone purchase?

Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000

Rs. 5001 to Rs. 10000
Rs. 10001 to Rs. 15000
Rs. 15001 and above.

91
16. Do you feel that your children have positive influence on your cellular device
budget?

YES
NO

17. Where do you buy costly cell phones from?

Local Market
Mall
Authorized Dealer
Others

18. Are you aware of 3g connectivity?

YES
NO

92