STUDY

ON
BRAND PREFERENCE OF MOBILE PHONES
IN CHITWAN

Submitted By
Nabin Tamang
BBA 6th Semester
PU symbol No: 16031358
PU Reg.No: 2015-2-03-1004

Submitted to:
Oxford College of Engineering & Management (OCEM)
Pokhara University

In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Bachelor Degree of

Acknowledgement
Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A)
Gaindakot, Nawalapur
This report is an attempt to fulfill the partial requirement of syllabus prescribed.
This report entitled “Brand preference of Mobile phones in Chitwan” has
been It would have
prepared as partial requirement for the BBA in business studies.
been almost impossible le to complete without cooperation and help from different
sections of people.
At last but not the least I owe an immense debt of gratefulness to oxford
college
for giving me opportunity to make the fieldwork report and for broadening
my
experience in practical field.

I want to express a deep heartfelt gratitude to my teacher Mr. Ganga Pd, Sapkota
for his valuable advice, support and guidance throughout this
project. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I also take the opportunity to thank Mr. Narayan Sapkota, HOD for his
The aim of this research is to find out about the brand preference of mobile phones of people
support
and co-operation.
residing in Chitwan. The increasing number of telecommunication networks and huge number of
their subscribers has made mobile phones an important medium for communication. Switching
mobile phone brands and updating oneself with latest technology in mobile brands has been in
I the
amincreasing
also deeply
trendindebted to mybrand
as well. Mobile friends and family
preference couldmembers
be related who are directly
with various other factors
and
indirectly involved
like age group, in bringing
gender, out this
price of phone, family monthly income, mobile usage purpose, brand
attributes and many more. Through this research, we can learn about the mobile brand preference
project.
of youth in Chitwan and help increase sales of various mobile brands.

As we went through the survey, we could find out that most of the youth in Chitwan valley own
a mobile phone and most them own a brand which costs more than NRS 20,000. Since mobile
phones are effective and convenient medium for communication, they have a positive influence
in the economy of our country. This research could lead to several other findings such as the
users of age group 16-24 mostly prefer Wi-Fi attribute in their phone, users of age group 25-30
prefer touch pad feature in mobile phone while users of age group 31-40 prefer FM/Radio in
their phone. It can be said that the highest priced mobile brands are purchased by users whose
monthly family income is above NRS 50,000 so a different promotional campaigns are required
for these users. The users whose monthly family income is relatively low purchase medium
priced mobile phones and use them for longer time. So to attract these customers, various offers
and discounts should be used as a promotional strategy by mobile brands.

So the findings of this research would also provide insight to mobile brands selling in Chitwan
about how they should target different customer groups and use different promotional
campaigns for each user group. Likewise, the findings of brand attribute preference can help
marketers to make decision regarding which model of their mobile brands would be suitable in
Nepalese market.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................7
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................7
1.2 Problem Statement...............................................................................................................10
1.2.1 Objectives.........................................................................................................................10
1.2.2 Significance of the study..................................................................................................11
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK.....................................12
2.1 Literature Review................................................................................................................12
2.2.1 Research Questions...........................................................................................................15
2.2.2 Research Hypothesis.........................................................................................................16
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.........................................................................................21
3.1 Research Plan and Design...................................................................................................21
3.2 Population and Sample........................................................................................................21
3.3 Description of the Sample...................................................................................................21
3.3.1 Sampling Frame............................................................................................................21
3.3.2 Sample unit...................................................................................................................21
3.3.3 Determination of Sample..............................................................................................21
3.3.4 Sampling method..........................................................................................................22
3.4 Instrumentation....................................................................................................................22
3.5 Data collection Procedure....................................................................................................22
3.6 Validity and Reliability........................................................................................................22
3.7 Analysis Plan.......................................................................................................................23
3.7.1 Data Management and Analysis...................................................................................23
3.7.2 Method of Data Analysis..............................................................................................23
3.8 Limitation of the Study........................................................................................................23
CHAPTER 4.........................................................................................................................24
DATA ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................24
4.1 Distribution by Gender........................................................................................................24
4.2 Distribution by Age Group..................................................................................................24
4.3 Distribution by Literacy Level.............................................................................................25
4.4 Distribution by Income Level..............................................................................................26
4.5 Distribution by Price range.................................................................................................27
4.6 Descriptive Statistics of Brand of Mobile Preferred............................................................28
4.7 Analysis Between Age Group and Mobile Brand Preference.............................................28
4.8 Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Brand Attribute Preference..............................30
4.9 Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Phone Usage Purpose.......................................30
4.10 Analysis between Gender and Duration of Current Mobile Brand Usage........................31
4.11 Analysis Between Age Group and Current Mobile Brand Usage Duration......................31
4.12 Analysis between Monthly Family Income and Current Mobile Brand Usage Duration 32
4.13 Analysis between Age and Current Mobile Brand Usage.................................................32
4.14 Analysis between Gender and Current Mobile Brand Usage............................................33
CHAPTER 5.........................................................................................................................34
SUMMARY, FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION......................................................................34
5.1 Summary and Findings....................................................................................................34
BIBLIOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................................35
ANNEX 1...........................................................................................................................36
 LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Distribution by Gender................................................................................................24
Table 2: Distribution by Age Group..........................................................................................24
Table 3: Distribution by Literacy Level....................................................................................25
Table 4: Distribution by Income Level......................................................................................26
Table 5: Distribution by Price Range.........................................................................................27
Table 6: Descriptive Statistics of Brand of Mobile Preferred....................................................28
Table 7: Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Brand Preferred.........................................28
Table 8:
Table 9:
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background
A mobile phone, known as a cell phone in North America or hand phone in Asian English, is a
portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while the user is
moving within a telephone service area. The radio frequency link establishes a connection to the
switching systems of a mobile phone operator, which provides access to the public switched
telephone network (PSTN). Modern mobile telephone services use a cellular network architecture,
and, therefore, mobile telephones are called cellular telephones or cell phones, in North America. In
addition to telephony, 2000s-era mobile phones support a variety of other services, such as text
messaging, MMS, email, Internet access, short-range wireless communications (infrared, Bluetooth),
business applications, video games, and digital photography. Mobile phones offering only those
capabilities are known as feature phones; mobile phones which offer greatly advanced computing
capabilities are referred to as smartphones.

A brief history of the mobile phone as a technology

The idea for cellular telephony originated in the US. The first cellular call and the first call from
a hand held cellular device also were placed in the US.

The mobile phone merges the landline telephony system with wireless communication. The
landline telephone was first patented in 1876. Mobile radio systems have been used since the
early 1900’s in the form of ship to shore radio, and were installed in some police cars in Detroit
starting in 1921. The blending of landline telephone and radio communication came after the
Second World War. The first commercially available "mobile radiophone service" that allowed
calls from fixed to mobile telephones was offered in St. Louis in 1946. By 1964 there were 1.5
million mobile phone users in the US. This was a non-cellular system that made relatively
inefficient use of the radio bandwidth. In addition, the telephones were large, energy intensive
car-mounted devices. In the drive to produce a more efficient mobile telephone system,
researchers W. Rae Young and Douglas Ring of Bell Labs developed the idea of cellular
telephony, in which geographical areas are divided into a mesh of cells, each with its own cell
tower. This allowed a far more efficient use of the radio spectrum and the "cell" phones needed
less power to send and receive a signal. The first installation was in 1969 on the Amtrak
Metroliner that traveled between New York City and Washington. Four years later Martin
Cooper of Motorola made the first cellular call from a prototype handheld cell phone.
The world's first commercial automated cellular network was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979,
initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. On 6 March 1983, the DynaTAc mobile phone
launched on the first US 1G network by Ameritech. In 1991, the second generation (2G) cellular
technology was launched in Finland by Radiolinja on the GSM standard and ten years later, in
2001, the third generation (3G) was launched in Japan by NTT DoCoMo on the WCDMA
Standard.

The history of mobile phone usage in Nepal dates back to 1999 when NTC started providing
GSM mobile service from May 1999. Mobile phones have emerged as an important means for
communication in Nepal. Its role has been significant in the development of various industries of
Nepal. Mobile phones were considered as means of pleasure and luxury some years back, but
today it has become the need of almost all people in Nepal for business purposes, convenience as
well as for maintaining one's status in the society. At the beginning when NTC started its GSM
mobile service with post paid service then there were very few mobile phone users that also
within Chitwan only. Later NTC started pre paid service and distributed more than one lakh sim
cards. It also improved its network services throughout the country which increased the mobile
users in Nepal. Queue were started to be seen outside Nepal telecom's offices for sim card which
showed the mobile phone popularity across Nepal. With evolution of other mobile
telecommunication service providers like NCELL and UTL, today, almost every adult in Nepal
possess a mobile phone of and each individual's mobile phone varies in model and brand from
the other's.

Different Brands of mobile Phones available in Nepal

There are many brands of cell phones available in Nepalese market. So far, as contemporary
brands of cell phones or mobile phones is concerned in Nepalese market, Sony, Samsung,
Huawei, Nokia, Lenovo, Xiaomi, iPhone, Oppo and so on are seen to exist in the competitive
market.Oppo, Samsung, Huawei, Sony, Xiaomi and iPhone have secured prominent position in
the Nepalese market. With the strong presence of these brands, many other brands which also
exist in the market are facing hard times and the brand war among these leading mobile brands
has provided the Nepalese market with better mobile sets and variety of features.

Samsung
Samsung offers a wide selection of powerful and stylish internet-ready Smartphones, which
include Android, Bada and Windows mobile devices. It has increased its market share in
Nepalese market due to its affordable range of prices and and android applications. It is mostly
popular among the youngsters of Nepal.
iPhone

The iPhone is a line of smart phones which is designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs
Apple's iOS mobile operating system, known as the "iPhone OS". In the recent years it has
gained huge popularity worldwide. In Nepal also iPhone has captured a huge market especially
of the higher income group. It has thus threatened established brands sales such as that of Nokia
and Samsung in Nepali market as well as worldwide.

Huawei
The Chinese telecommunications company has been manufacturing mobile phones since 1997. It
is also the largest telecom infrastructure maker in the world. The company also makes Android
smartphones and tablets. Recently it has stepped into the smartwatch market with an Android
Wear based device. It is another one of the big smartphone manufacturers from China. 
Oppo
OPPO Electronics Corp. is an electronics manufacturer based in Guangdong, China. Known for
its smartphones, the company also makes MP3 players, portable media players, LCD-TVs, and
DVD/Blu-ray players. It was founded in 2004. The company is also a smartphone maker. It has
launched a whole range of Android powered smartphones

Xiaomi
Xiaomi Corporation is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Beijing. Xiaomi makes
and invests in smartphones, mobile apps, laptops, and related consumer electronics

Sony
Sony Mobile Communications Inc. is a multinational telecommunications company founded on
October 1, 2001 as a joint venture between Sony and Ericsson, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan
and wholly owned by Sony.
1.2 Problem Statement
In present context, mobile phone has a huge impact in lives of people daily. In our country the
mobile phone industry is still in its growth stage, as compared to the industrially advanced
countries. It is for the fact that the economy of our country has been in the developing stage.
Now-a-days, the customers are more dynamic. Their taste, needs and preference are changing
with the advancement in technology and communication with the outside world.

With the increase in mobile phone brands in the market, lots of mobile dealers are cropping up
old established brands and new brand of mobiles are entering the market. With the increase in
competition locally as well as from global dealers, Nepalese mobile phone dealers are coming up
with new and promotional campaigns and schemes to attract the customers.

This research is guided towards determining the preferences of various mobile phone brands by
Nepalese customers. The major problems identified regarding the mobile phone brands is to
determine the most preferred brand and to identify the attributes which are significant in
preference of a specific brand. This research aims at determining how the promotion campaigns
of mobile phones have made consumers aware about the different brands of mobile phones.
Understanding the type of mobile phone a buyer prefers is a major concern for marketers. This
research will help in determining the choice of mobile phone consumer prefers according to their
age, income level and educational background inside as well as all over Nepal and thus selling
the brands accordingly which would also help to reduce the risk of the marketer.

1.2.1 Objectives
The main objective of this study is to understand the mobile brand preference and the various
factors affecting the choice of brand. The objectives of the study are as follows:

 To identify the profiles of customers of specific brand by gender, age, locality and
education level.
 To determine the preferences of mobile phone brands by Nepalese customers.
 To identify the product attributes sought by consumers in the mobile phone brand.
 To assess the customer's perception on brand preference.
1.2.2 Significance of the study
Successful marketing of products demand a thorough understanding of customer's taste, choice,
preference etc. This study is focused on assessing the buyers in terms of "brand preference". This
study will be significant in the following grounds:

 Findings of the study will help marketers understand brand preference practices in mobile
phone market. It will give information about level of customer involvement in brand
searching, analyzing attributes and brand choice for the high involvement product mobile
phones. It will also help to develop the profile of specific customer of brands.
 It will be useful in creating most favorable brand by knowing the buyer perception and
response. Marketers can trace out important reasons for brand preference and can focus
according to choice, perception and preference of buyers.
 Deeper understanding of brand preference of customers can help managers to design
marketing strategy that will concentrate on customers.
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

2.1 Literature Review

For the research, various literatures were reviewed that were relevant in gathering information.

Brand Preference and purchase intention

Brand is the "name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or
service as distinct from those of other sellers. One of the indicators of the strength of a brand in
the hearts and minds of customers, brand preference represents which brands are preferred under
assumptions of equality in price and availability. It can be defined as the priority that the buyer
or consumer gives to a brand. It is revealed in the purchase and use of one brand and not of
competitive brands.

How does consumer process competitive brand information and make a final value judgement?
The consumer arrive at attitude towards various brand through preference among the brand in the
choice set. However two factors can intervene between the purchase intention and purchase
decision. The first factor is attitude of another. The extent to which person's attitude reduces
one's preferred alternative depends on the intensity of other person's negative attitude towards
consumer's preferred alternative and consumer's motivation to comply with the other person's
wishes.

The stage of consumer decision making process for the purchase shown in the hierarchy of effect
model is awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase.

 Awareness: the ability of the consumer to recall a brand name either with or without
prompting.
 Knowledge: the ability of consumer to describe the important attributes of a product or
services.
 Liking: the attitude of consumer toward a product or services.
 Preferences: the degree to which a consumer feels more positive about a product or
services relative to other offering.
 Conviction: the likelihood that the consumer will purchase the product or services.
  Purchase: the acquisition of a product or service.

Brand Preference, Product Attributes, and Marketing Mix Variables in Technology

Product Markets (S. Sriram and Ramya Neelamegham)

The research done on above topic concludes that the attractiveness of a brand's product line
changes over time with entry and exit of new models and with changes in attribute and price
levels. In order to account for the potential correlation in the preferences of models offered by a
particular brand (e.g., Sony), relative model preferences are captured via their attributes and
prices. Authors have allowed for heterogeneity across consumers in their preferences for these
attributes and in their price sensitivities in addition to heterogeneity in consumers' intrinsic brand
preferences. To allow for time-varying intrinsic brand preferences, they have used a state-space
model based on the Kalman filter, which captures the influence of marketing actions such as
brand-level advertising on the dynamics of intrinsic brand preferences. Hence, the proposed
model accounts for the effects of brand preferences, model attributes and marketing mix
variables on consumer choice. They have estimated model parameters on data for the U.S. digital
camera market. Overall, finding was that the effect of dynamics in the intrinsic brand preference
is greater than the corresponding effect of the dynamics in the brand's product line attractiveness.
Assuming plausible profit margins, the authors have evaluated that the effect of increasing the
advertising expenditures for the largest and the smallest brands category can increase their
profitability by increasing their advertising expenditures. They have also analyzed the impact of
modifying a camera model's attributes on its profits. Such an analysis could potentially be used
to evaluate if product development efforts would be profitable.

Mobile Phone Operator Brand Preference

(Anthony Dadzie, November 2011)

The author Anthony Dadzie conducted a study and the findings are most of the respondent
consumers were aware of mobile phone operator brands despite having come across few operator
service advertisements. Young males, mainly students in the tertiary institutions, single and of
Christian affiliations, dominated the market. Four factors were identified as key determinants of
mobile phone operator service choice, namely promotion, price and availability of product,
attractive packaging and product quality. There is need for mobile phone operators to incorporate
these findings in the formulation of responsive marketing strategies.

Teens and Mobile Phones

by Amanda Lenhart, Rich Ling, Scott Campbell, Kristen Purcell, Apr 20, 2010
This study is based on the 2009 Parent-Teen Cell Phone usage Survey which obtained telephone
interviews with a nationally representative sample of 800 teens age 12-to-17 years-old and their
parents living in the continental United States and conducted in 4 U.S. cities in June and October
2009 with teens between the ages of 12 and 18. The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey
Research Associates International. The interviews were done in English by Princeton Data
Source, LLC from June 26 to September 24, 2009. Statistical results are weighted to correct
known demographic discrepancies.

The research concludes that mobile phone usage and daily text messaging among American
teens has shot up in the past 18 months, from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of
2008 to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009. And it's not just frequency – teens are
sending enormous quantities of text messages a day. Half of teens send 50 or more text messages
a day, or 1,500 texts a month, and one in three send more than 100 texts a day, or more than
3,000 texts a month. Older teen girls ages 14-17 lead the charge on text messaging, averaging
100 messages a day for the entire cohort. The youngest teen boys are the most resistant to texting
– averaging 20 messages per day. Text messaging has become the primary way that teens reach
their friends, surpassing face-to-face contact, email, instant messaging and voice calling as the
go-to daily communication tool for this age group. However, voice calling is still the preferred
mode for reaching parents for most teens. This research thus highlights the importance of mobile
phone attributes such as text messaging and what marketers need to consider while developing a
brand of mobile phone for the target customers.

Cell phone users and preference for brand

by Harris Interactive

According to the latest survey of cell phone users by Harris Interactive, 54 per cent of U.S. adult
cell phone users say they have no preference for an existing brand or a new one offered by their
service provider. Meanwhile, the rest differ in opinion between interest in a new brand 27 per
cent and an existing brand 19 per cent. The survey also showed that 64 per cent of respondents
agree that more competition among cell phone manufacturers will lead to product innovation. 40
per cent believe it will ensure more choices in the marketplace.

According to the survey, there is some scepticism about cellular service providers offering their
own brand of phones, and approximately one-third think this actually may result in decreased
competition and higher prices in the long run. Around 30 per cent agree that smaller wireless
service providers who cannot manufacture their own phones will go out of business, and another
21 per cent feels that wireless service providers lack the design skills to build quality handsets.

"Cellphone manufacturing by the large wireless service providers is the next logical step in this
market," said Joe Porus, cell phone vice president and chief architect for the Harris Interactive
technology. "If they can pull this off, it will give their bottom lines a nice lift, but a failed entry
here could start a new phase of consolidations in the industry. This apple is likely too tempting to
leave on the tree new cell phones could be coming your way soon."

2.2 Theoretical Framework

Educational
Level
Usage Gender

Income Attributes

Mobile
Brand
Age Preferenc
Price
e

Figure 1: Theoretical Framework for study of Brand Preference of Mobile Phones

2.2.1 Research Questions

For the purpose of study, the research will be based on the following questions:

 Is there a significant relationship between gender and mobile phone brand preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between age and mobile brand preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between family monthly income and mobile brand
preference?
  Is there a significant relationship between education level/ literacy level and mobile brand
preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between brand attributes and mobile brand preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between price of phone and brand preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between age and current mobile brand usage?
 Is there a significant relationship between gender and current mobile brand usage?
 Is there significant relationship between Monthly family income and mobile price range
preference?
 Is there a significant relationship between mobile phone usage and mobile purchase
behaviour?
 Is there a significant relationship between age and mobile attributes preference?
 Is there significant relationship between age group and mobile phone usage purpose?

2.3 Research Hypothesis

There are various factors that influence the brand preference on mobile phones. It can be
external, internal or situational factors. The dependent variable in this study, “Study of Brand
Preference of Mobile Phones in Nepal” is brand preference. Following comprises the list of
independent variable taken into account for the study.

 Age

 Gender

 Education Level

 Income

 Features
 Price
 Usage

 Brand attributes

Hypothesis formulated for the purpose of study are as follows:

Hypothesis 1:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between gender and mobile phone
brand preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between gender and mobile phone
brand preference.

Hypothesis 2:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between age and mobile brand
preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between age and mobile brand
preference.

Hypothesis 3:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between family monthly income and
mobile brand preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between family monthly income
and mobile brand preference.

Hypothesis 4:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between literacy level and mobile
brand preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship literacy level and mobile brand
preference.

Hypothesis 5:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between brand attributes and mobile
brand preference.
Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between brand attributes and
mobile brand preference.

Hypothesis 6:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between price of phone and brand
preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between price of phone and brand
preference.

Hypothesis 7:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between age and current mobile brand
usage.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between age and current mobile
brand usage.

Hypothesis 8:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between gender and current mobile
brand usage.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between gender and current mobile
brand usage.

Hypothesis 9:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between monthly family income and
mobile price range preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between monthly family income
and mobile price range preference.

Hypothesis 10:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between mobile phone usage and
mobile purchase behaviour.
Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between mobile phone usage and
mobile purchase behaviour.

Hypothesis 11:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between age and mobile attributes
preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between age and mobile attributes
preference.

Hypothesis 12:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between age group and mobile phone
usage purpose.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between age group and mobile
phone usage purpose.

Hypothesis 13:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between gender and current mobile
usage duration.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between gender and current mobile
usage duration.

Hypothesis 14:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between age group and current mobile
usage duration.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between age group and current
mobile usage duration.

Hypothesis 15:
Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between monthly family income and
current mobile usage duration.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between monthly family income
and current mobile usage duration.

Hypothesis 16:

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is no significant relationship between educational level and better
features preference.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is significant relationship between educational level and
better features preference.
 CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Plan and Design

The main purpose of study is to find out the mobile brand preferences of respondents inside
Chitwan from various gender, age, income level. An exploratory research was carried out to
achieve this purpose. The research is quantitative in nature. The data collected is analyzed
statistically to interpret findings and results. Primary as well as secondary sources are used. For
primary sources of data, questionnaire was used. For secondary data, various sources like
internet, books, and journals are used.

3.2 Population and Sample

The population for this study is comprised of all people in Chitwan who possess a mobile phone.
For this purpose convenience sampling method is used. To gather the primary information on
preference of consumers, questionnaire survey was conducted with 91 respondents.

3.3 Description of the Sample

3.3.1 Sampling Frame

All the people of Nepal who possess a mobile phone.

3.3.2 Sample unit

The sample unit for this study is of different age groups.

3.3.3 Determination of Sample

The size of the sample is 91. The sample is divided into sub samples in terms of the four
age groups.
 3.3.4 Sampling method
For this study, non-probability sampling is used. It is because determining the population
size of people preferring various mobile phone brands is difficult. Therefore, sampling
method used is the convenience quota sampling.

3.4 Instrumentation
The instrument used for this research is questionnaire. The questionnaire included 13 questions
that included demographic questions as well as questions regarding customer's brand preference
and attributes choice on mobile phone. The questionnaire will focus more on the qualitative
aspect of the respondents than the quantitative aspects because of the nature of the research.
Questionnaire will consist of various types of question such as ranking scale questionnaires,
single response questions, multiple response questions, LIKERT scale and others. Likewise, a
structured questionnaire design will be used.

3.5 Data collection Procedure

Both primary and secondary source of data are used while conducting the research. The
researcher has used secondary sources of data like internet, journals; reports for background
study, literature review and problem identification of the research. The researcher has used
primary source of data via questionnaire. Questionnaire was distributed to 91 respondents. While
selecting the respondents the researcher has ensured that the data are homogeneous in nature and
is distributed in terms of age group. We have used the age group of 15-24 years, 25-30 years, 31-
40 and 41 above. The questionnaires are self-administered as well as researcher administered.

3.6 Validity and Reliability

For validity, questionnaires were reviewed with the help of expert’s opinions and suggestions.
Past questionnaires were also referred from reports carried out on similar topics. The
questionnaire will ensure that it meets the research objective. A small pre-testing will be done
with around 10 samples. In pre-testing, respondents will be asked to find any ambiguities and
difficulties in answering the questions.

For reliability, the researcher has administered the question personally to each respondent so that
there is no inconsistency in answering the question. The results and findings of the research has
also been compared with results of similar research. If degree of variance is excessively large,
the research will be investigated for reliability. Internal consistency reliability will also be tested
using LIKERT scale.
3.7 Analysis Plan

3.7.1 Data Management and Analysis

For this research report, SPSS 16.0 and MS EXCEL was used for the analysis if the data. With
the help of this software, the data collected from the sources were classified, tabulated and
analyzed using statistical tools like mean, median, variance and others according to the needs of
the research. Similarly, in case of inferential analysis, both parametric and non-parametric test
will be used to determine and study various characteristics of the sample. Parametric tests such
as one way ANOVA, independent sample t-test, and Pearson’s correlation, whereas non-
parametric tests such as chi-square test, Spearman’s rank order correlation, were used in the
study. Open-ended questions in the questionnaire were analyzed separately.

3.7.2 Method of Data Analysis

The main source of the analysis of the data is questionnaire. Questionnaire consists of questions
related with the mobile brand preference with a view to get the research output as required.

3.8 Limitation of the Study

The research will have the following limitations:

 The research has been prepared within a span of one month and thus there was limited
time for conducting the research and literature review.

 The research is based on the sample size of 91 and mainly quantitative measure was
taken to measure the brand preference of mobile phones among customers.

 The age group has been selected above 15 years so as to reduce the response error.

 Opinions of respondents have been taken as a sense of truth which may not be correct.

 Research is limited to within Chitwan.

 CHAPTER 4

DATA ANALYSIS

In this chapter, the information collected from the questionnaire is analyzed as follows:

4.1 Distribution by Gender

Table 1: Distribution by Gender

Gender Frequency Percent

Male 38 41.8
Female 53 58.2
Total 91 100.0

The figure shows that 41.8% of the sample size is male and remaining 58.2% is female. So, we
can conclude that the mobile phones brand preference is higher in females than in males.

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Male Female

4.2 Distribution by Age Group

Table 2: Distribution by Age Group

Age Frequency Percent

16-24 37 40.7
25-30 28 30.8
31-40 26 28.6
Total 91 100.0
The figure shows that 40.7% of the respondents are from the age group 16-24 years, 30.8% from
25-30 years and remaining 28.6% from 31-40 years. So, we can conclude that the mobile brand
preference is higher in the youths of age group 16-24 years.
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
16-24 25-30 31-40

4.3 Distribution by Literacy Level

Table 3: Distribution by Literacy Level

Educational Qualification Frequency Percent

Up to Intermediate 15 16.4
Bachelors 32 35.2
Masters and Above 44 48.4
Total 91 100.0

The figure shows that only 16.4% of the youths have educational qualification of up to
intermediate level while 35.2% are studying bachelor’s level and remaining 48.4% studying
masters and above who prefer various mobile phone brands.
 60

50

40

30

20

10

0
up to intermediate bachelors Masters and above

4.4 Distribution by Income Level

Table 4: Distribution by Income Level

Monthly Family Income Frequency

Percent
Less than 25,000 25 27.4
25000-50000 30 33.0
More than 50000 36 39.6

100 100 100.0

The figure shows that 27.4% of the youths have monthly family income less than NPR 25,000;
33% have between NPR 25,000 and 50,000 while 39.6% have monthly family income more than
NPR 50,000.
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
less than 25000 25000-50000 more than 50000
4.5 Distribution by Price Range
Table 5: Distribution by Price Range

Price Range Frequency Percent

less than 5000 4 4.4
5000-10000 16 17.6
10000-20000 30 33.0
Above 20000 41 45.1
Total 91 100.0

The table shows that 4.4% of youth possess mobile phone of price range less than 5000; 17.6%
have between 5000-10000; 33% have mobile phone between price range 10000-20000 and
45.1% youth have mobile phone of price range above 20000.
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
less than 5000 5000-10000 10000-20000 above 20000
4.6 Descriptive Statistics of Brand of Mobile Preferred

Table 6: Descriptive Statistics of Brand of Mobile Preferred

Brand of n
mobile Phone
iPhone 18
Huawei 21
Xiaomi 9
Oppo 5
Sony 5
Samsung 22
Others 11

The table shows that Samsung is mostly preferred by youth with number of 22 while oppo brand
is the least preferred mobile phone brand with number of 5.

4.7 Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Brand Attribute Preference
Table 7: Analysis between Age group and Mobile Brand Attribute Preferred
Attributes  Age Group n Mean Std. Deviation
Touch Pad 16-24 37 3.81 1.175
  25-30 28 4.21 1.101
  31-40 26 3.42 1.332
  Total 91 3.82 1.226
Bluetooth 16-24 37 3.62 1.21
  25-30 28 3.5 1.036
  31-40 26 3.81 0.634
  Total 91 3.64 1.017
Camera 16-24 36 4.53 0.845
  25-30 28 4.54 0.744
  31-40 26 4.15 0.675
  Total 90 4.42 0.779
FM/Radio 16-24 37 3.95 1.026
  25-30 28 3.36 1.283
  31-40 26 4.08 0.845
  Total 91 3.8 1.098
Memory Card 16-24 37 4.57 0.867
  25-30 28 4.32 0.772
  31-40 26 4.04 0.662
  Total 91 4.34 0.806
Wi-Fi 16-24 37 4.78 0.712
  25-30 28 4.75 0.844
  31-40 26 3.69 1.192
  Total 91 4.46 1.025

The table shows that the youths of age group 25-30 years mostly prefer touch pad in mobile
phone with the highest mean of 4.21 and standard deviation of 1.101; youths of age group 31-40
years prefer blue tooth hand set attribute in mobile phone with highest mean 3.81 and standard
deviation 0.634; youth of age group 25-30 prefer camera in mobile phone mostly with highest
mean 4.54 and standard deviation 0.74431; youth of age group 31-40 years mostly prefer
FM/radio with the highest mean of 4.08 and standard deviation of 0.845; youth of age group 16-
24 mostly prefer memory card in their mobile phone with highest mean 4.57 and standard
deviation 0.867. similarly, youth of age group 16-24 mostly prefer Wi-Fi attribute in mobile with
highest mean 4.78 and respective standard deviation of 0.712.
4.8 Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Phone Usage Purpose

Table 8 : Analysis between Age Group and Mobile Phone Usage Purpose

 Age Std.
Purpose  Group n Mean Deviation
Use mostly
for Call 16-24 37 4.54 0.96
  25-30 28 4.61 0.994
  31-40 26 4.69 0.838
  Total 91 4.6 0.93
Use mostly
for Internet 16-24 37 3.46 1.386
  25-30 28 4.39 0.956
  31-40 26 2.73 1.663
  Total 91 3.54 1.493
Use mostly
for Songs
and
Multimedia 16-24 37 3.54 1.169
  25-30 28 3.89 0.956
  31-40 26 3.69 1.289
  Total 91 3.69 1.142
Use mostly
for Camera 16-24 37 3.14 1.159
  25-30 28 3.82 1.02
  31-40 26 3.35 1.384
  Total 91 3.41 1.211
Use mostly
for Memory 16-24 37 3.27 1.194
  25-30 28 3.07 1.631
  31-40 26 3.19 1.059
  Total 91 3.19 1.299

The table shows that the youths of age group 16-24 use their mobile mostly for call with the
highest mean of 4.54 and standard deviation of 0.96; youths of age group 25-30 use their mobile
phone mostly for internet with highest mean 4.39 and standard deviation 0.956; youth of age
group 25-30 prefer songs and multimedia mostly with highest mean 3.89 and standard deviation
0.956; youth of age group 25-30 prefer to use camera mostly with the highest mean of 3.82 and
standard deviation of 1.02. Similarly, youth of age group 31-40 use phone mostly for memory
with highest mean 3.19 and respective standard deviation of 1.059
4.9 Analysis between Gender and Duration of Current Mobile Brand Usage
Table 9: Analysis between Gender and Duration of Current Mobile Brand Usage

       
Std.
  Gender n Mean Deviation
No of years
usage Male 38 2.08 1.477
  Female 53 2 1.225

The above table shows that male use their mobile phone for longer time (2.08 years) than female
(2 years) with the standard deviations of 1.477 and 1.225 respectively.

4.10 Analysis Between Age Group and Current Mobile Brand Usage Duration
Table 10: Analysis between Age Group and Current Mobile Brand Usage Duration

 Age Std.
Group n Mean Deviation
16-24 37 2.14 1.337
25-30 28 1.61 0.786
31-40 26 2.35 1.672
Total 91 2.03 1.329

The table shows that the youths of 31-40 years use the same mobile phone brand for maximum
time and the youths of age group 25-30 years use same mobile brand minimum time with the
respective mean of 2.35 years and 1.61 yrs.
4.11 Analysis between Monthly Family Income and Current Mobile Brand Usage
Duration
Table 11: Analysis between Monthly Family Income and Current Mobile Brand Usage Duration

 Monthly
Family Std.
Income n Mean Deviation
Less than
25,000 25 2.64 1.823
25000-50000 30 1.7 0.915
More than
50000 36 1.89 1.09
Total 91 2.03 1.329

The table shows that youth with monthly family income less than Rs. 25000 use the same mobile
phone brand for maximum time and the youths with monthly family income Rs. 25000-50000
use same mobile brand minimum time with the respective standard deviations of 1.823 years and
1.09 yrs.

4.12 Analysis between Age and Current Mobile Brand Usage

Table12: Analysis between Age and Current Mobile Brand Usage

Current Mobile Phone

Huawe Sony
 Age   i Xiaomi Samsung iPhone Ericson Oppo Others Total
16-24 Count 9 1 12 6 4 0 5 37
%
within 24.30 16.20 13.50 100.00
  Age % 2.70% 32.40% % 10.80% 0.00% % %
25-30 Count 3 4 5 8 0 3 5 28
%
within 10.70 28.60 10.70 17.90 100.00
  Age % 14.30% 17.90% % 0.00% % % %
31-40 Count 9 4 5 4 1 2 1 26
%
within 34.60 15.40 100.00
  Age % 15.40% 19.20% % 3.80% 7.70% 3.80% %
 Total Count 21 9 22 18 5 5 11 91
  % 23.10 9.90% 24.20% 19.80 5.50% 5.50% 12.10 100.00
 within
Age % % % %

The table shows that all age groups use various mobile phone brands with the highest count of
32.24% on Samsung by age group 16-24; 28.60% on iPhone age group 25-30 and 34.60% on
Huawei by age group 31-40 respectively.

4.13 Analysis between Gender and Current Mobile Brand Usage

Table 13: Analysis between Gender and Current Mobile Brand Usage

          Current Mobile Phone    

Sony
 Gende Huawe Samsun Ericso
r   i Xiaomi g iPhone n Oppo Others Total
Male Count 9 5 8 7 1 4 4 38
%
within 23.70 18.40 10.50 10.50 100.00
Gender % 13.20% 21.10% % 2.60% % % %
Female Count 12 4 14 11 4 1 7 53
%
within 22.60 20.80 13.20 100.00
Gender % 7.50% 26.40% % 7.50% 1.90% % %
Total Count 21 9 22 18 5 5 11 91
%
within 23.10 19.80 12.10 100.00
  Gender % 9.90% 24.20% % 5.50% 5.50% % %

the table shows that both male and female use various mobile phone brands with the highest
count of 26.40% on Samsung by Female and 23.70% on Huawei by male respectively.
 CHAPTER 5

SUMMARY, FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION

5.1 Summary and Findings
Mobile phones are an essential element of daily life today. We accept mobile phones as a part of
our everyday lives and an important means of getting in touch with the world around us despite
our busy schedules. The purchase of a mobile phone is an important decision with a variety of
mobile phone brands available to choose from. With the strong presence of different brands,
many the brand war among leading mobile brands has provided the Nepalese market with better
mobile sets and variety of features.

As the time has moved on, the number of users of mobile phones have increased tremendously.
The use of mobile phone for making phone calls have changed with the introduction of smart
phones and wireless technology. User preference has shifted from using mobile phone merely as
a means of communication to using it as a storage device, getting connect to social media and
conducting business through mobile phones and making lot of money. Male and female brand
attribute preference are different, even age group differences shapes the way they prefer one
brand over others in the market.

There are several brand of mobile phones in the market that offers variety of attributes at
different price ranges for the people. There is high competition among the brands i.e. the
potential and the real competitors. It’s very visible that youths are more inclined towards the
brand with new technologies and new attributes irrespective of their prices. Following
conclusion can be drawn from the research conducted:

 Brand attributes influence the buying decision of people from all age and educational
background.
 Monthly family income of youth affects the duration they use their mobile brand.
 Users of age group 16-24 mostly prefer Wi-Fi and memory card attribute while age group
31-40 prefer FM/ Radio and wireless Bluetooth hand set attribute in mobile phone.
 Most of the respondents prefer Samsung while Oppo mobile brand was found to be least
preferred by youth.
 Most of the youth in Chitwan possess mobile phone of price range above NRS 20,000
while very few possess mobile brand of price range below NRS 5,000.
 Brand features such as touch pad, Wi-Fi, bluetooth hand set and memory card affect the
preference of mobile phone brand.
 Mobile phone usage purpose such as call, camera, memory etc determines the choice of
brand for the users.
 Both male and female users have similar mobile brand usage duration of 2 years on
average.

 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 Zikmund, W. (2007). Business Research Methodology. Thomson Southwestern.(Megan, 2011)

 Sriram, S., Neelamegham, .R (n.d.). Brand Preference, Product Attributes, and

Marketing Mix Variables in Technology Product Markets

 Anthony Dadzie, A., ( 2011 November). Mobile Phone Operator Brand Preference
 Lenhart, A., Ling, R., Campbell, S., Purcell, K., (2010 April 20). Teens and Mobile
Phones

 Retrieved 2012, from http://pewinternet.org/reports/2012/Teens-and-Mobile-Phones.html

 Harris (n.d.). Cell phone users and preference for brand
 Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from www.wikipedia.com:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List of mobile phone brands

 Wikipedia. (n.d.). Retrieved April 03, 2018, from www.wikipedia.com:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branding
 ANNEX 1
Brand Preference of Mobile Phones
Please tick one þ for each criteria group

Section A: Personal Information
1. Gender 2. Age 3. Marital status

1. Male 1. 16-24 1. Married

2. Single
2. Female 2. 25-30

3. 31-40

4. Permanent Address 5. Monthly Family Income 6. Literacy Level

(in NPR)
1. Chitwan 1. Less than 25,000 1. Upto Intermediate
2. Outside chitwan 2. 25,000-50,000 /+2

3. More than 50,000 2. Upto bachelors

3. Masters and Above

7. Occupation
1. Self employed
2. Student
3. Business
4. Salaried

Section B: About mobile phones

Q8. Which mobile phone you are using? (Tick major one)

1. Huawei 4.Oppo
2. Samsung 5. iPhone
3. Xiaomi I 6. Sony
7. Other
 
Q9. In what Price range does your mobile phone fall?

1. Below 5000 2. 5000-10000

3. 10000-20000 4. Above 20000

Q10. Why did you choose this brand over others?(you can select more than one)

1. Better features
2. Reasonable price
3. Better outlook
4. Catchy advertisement
5. Satisfied friends/peers with the brand
6. Others (Specify) ...............................

Q11. What brand of phone did you previously own? (you can select more than one)

1. Huawei
2. Samsung
3. Xiaomi
4. Sony
5. iPhone
6. Oppo
7. Others (Specify)

Q12. For what purpose do you use your mobile mostly?

(Rank on the scale of 5, highest usage gets a score of 5)

1. Call
2. Internet
3. Songs and multimedia
4. Camera
5. Memory

Q13. For mobile phone please tick as per the following attributes:
 In your view, it Is Important To Have The Strongly Disagre Neutral Agree Strongly
Following Attributes: Disagre e agree
e
Touch pad 1 2 3 4 5
Bluetooth Head Set 1 2 3 4 5
Camera 1 2 3 4 5
FM/Radio 1 2 3 4 5
Memory Card 1 2 3 4 5
Wi-Fi 1 2 3 4 5

Q14. Which is your favorite mobile phone brand?

( Please choose your 3 favorite brand in order of preference from 1- Most favorite to 3-Least favorite)

1 2 3
1. Huawei
2. Samsung
3. Sony
4.Xiaomi
5. iPhone
6. Oppo
7.Others (Specify)

Q.15. How long you are using the current  mobile phone?.........................