Banking Academy of Vietnam

International School of Banking Academy

Research proposal
THE TREND OF CHOOSING SMARTPHONE AMONG ISBA FIRST
YEAR STUDENTS IN DIFFERENT HOMETOWNS

Teacher: Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich

Student: Nguyen Ha Trang

Student’s ID: F15-247

Class: F15C

Course: Project II

Hanoi - 2022
The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.

Research Proposal
The trend of choosing smartphones among ISBA freshmen in Hanoi and other provinces.

1. Introduction
In the current technological era, with the extensive coverage of the Internet,
communication via electronic devices has become extremely popular with people all over the
world. Moreover, with the convenience and compactness to carry anywhere and the ability to
connect to the internet, smartphones have become an indispensable part of people's applications.
Research from Strategy Analytics reveals that “1 billion” people were using a cellphone while
the number of smartphone users in Vietnam is increasingly growing, accounting for “66.84
million” in 2020 and this figure is expected at “82.15 million” in 2025 according to the Statista.
Furthermore, as stated by Moore Corporation's Vietnam Digital Landscape report (2015), the
number of 3G subscribers in Vietnam in 2012 was “15.7 million” accounting for “11.9%” of the
total number of mobile subscribers. By 2015, this number reached 29.3 million 3G subscribers
accounting for “21.4%” of total mobile users. As a result, it attracts the entry of famous and
influential smartphone enterprises into Vietnam such as Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, Huawei, and
others, etc. (Sturgeon, and Zylberberg, 2016). It shows that the demand for using mobile phones
is developing sharply, which provides a good opportunity for the smartphone business (Giao, and
Vuong, 2020).

2. Problem statement
2.1. Rationale:
Nowadays, the smartphone is one of the items in the human necessary and has a huge
function in life, so there have several businesses related to smartphones with a great deal of
choices to deciding on buying what smartphone would be suitable. With high user demand, the
proportion of smartphone users is mainly teenagers. and investigating the customer’s selection
will be the key to conquering the mobile market.

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The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.

2.2. Scope:
The statistics used in this study shall be collected from students at the ISBA
(International School of Business) at the Banking Academy. In the research, 200 first-year
students were randomly selected to participate in the survey.

2.3. Research questions:

This research is conducted to investigate the trends of choosing smartphones among
ISBA freshmen in Hanoi and other provinces by answering the following questions:

- What is the name of the smartphone brand that ISBA freshmen often buy?
- What are the motivating factors which affect their choice of this brand?
- What is their favorite color for their mobile phones?
- Where do they buy their smartphones?
- How much do they purchase for their smartphones?

3. Objectives:
- The aim of this research is to investigate the name of smartphone brand and the
color that ISBA often buy.
- The study aims to look into the place where they buy smartphones.
- The purpose of the research is to go through the amount of money that ISBA
freshmen spend on buying smartphones as well as the motivating factors affecting
their choices.

4. Preliminary Literature Review:

In fact, a lot of studies have been done to investigate these subjects but each of them only
reflects one aspect of the topic. In detail, according to Y. Chen, T. Chen, and C. Lin (2016), the
aim of a previous study is to discover the reasons and benefits of using mobile phones but it has
not yet looked at the trend of choosing a phone among users now. Besides, Osman et al (2012)
investigated the Malaysian smartphone market as well as consumer usage patterns in the current
dynamics clearly. However, although this study examines trends in smartphone choice, it was
conducted in another country, not in Vietnam. Additionally, another study named “Smartphone

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The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.

Use of University Students: Patterns, Purposes, and Situations. Malaysian Online Journal of
Educational Technology” by Ataş and Çelik (2019) just researches about university students in
developing countries, does not focus on university students in a particular country, like Vietnam.

5. Methodology:
This research project is aimed at investigating the trends of choosing smartphones among
freshmen students in Hanoi and other provinces, so the quantitative research will be chosen to
conduct to find out the answers for the research questions. According to D. Coghlan, M.
Brydon-Miller ( 2014), quantitative research is defined as a set of strategies, techniques, and
assumptions used to study psychological, social, and economic processes through the exploration
of numeric patterns such as questionnaires, structured observations, or experiments in contrast to
qualitative research.. Besides, Bryman, 2000, p20 stated that statistical data from quantitative
research can help analysts to save time and resources. Therefore, the target of this method is that
the sample population used scientific inquiry, and quantitative research, which depends on data
that is observed or measured. (M. Allen, 2017)

The data used in this report will be acquired from a survey carried out within ISBA of
Banking Academy. At the beginning, a questionnaire which consisted of 15 questions will be
designed with respect to 5 research questions. In the next step, 200 first-year students from the
mentioned-above university will be randomly selected, and each of them will be required to
complete all the questions. The trend of choosing smartphones in it by filling and circling the
options which will be suitable for them. In fact, the survey method can help the researcher obtain
information quickly from a large number of participants. Moreover, using questionnaires,
responses followed a pattern so these methods are “more objective, certainly more than
interviews”. (J. Milne, 1999, p.52). After finishing the data collection process, these statistics
will be analyzed and interpreted through comparing and contrasting results from individual
surveys; exploring emerging themes from your data; producing graphs to illustrate your findings;
describing the results thematically; using quotes to illustrate the findings and examination of a
topic from many different angles.

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The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.

The timeline of the research

Week The names of main activities Procedure

1 Identify the research topic and define aim of research The trend of choosing smartphone
and research subjects among first-year students in ISBA in
Hanoi and other provinces
2 Design research questions Consist of 5 questions
3-4 Write the introduction Write 3 main body with introducing:
- The topic
- Participants
- The aim & research questions
5-6 Write literature review Compare previous studies on the same
topic
7-8 Write the methodology & design questionnaire - Kind of research: quantitative
research
- Method: Survey
- Consist of 15 questions
9-10 Write research proposal
11-12 Collect data 200 first-year students in ISBA
13 Analysis data - Produce graphs to illustrate
your findings
- Analyze different angles of the
topic
14-15 Write the first draft - Write the results
- Check plagiarism
16 Write the second draft - Fix the errors
- Check plagiarism
17 Write final draft Check plagiarism
18 Submit dissertation Submit

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The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.

6. References
Ataş, A. and Çelik, B., 2019. Smartphone Use of University Students: Patterns, Purposes,
and Situations. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Technology, 7(2), pp.54-70.

D. Coghlan, M. Brydon-Miller, 2014. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Action Research.

Y. Chen, T. Chen, and C. Lin, 2016. The Analyses of Purchasing Decisions and Brand
Loyalty for Smartphone Consumers. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 04(07), pp.108-
116.
Eyisi Daniel, 2016. The Usefulness of Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches and
Methods in Researching Problem-Solving Ability in Science Education Curriculum
Vol.7, No.15.

H. GIAO, and B. VUONG, 2020. Vietnamese Consumer Attitudes towards Smartphone

Advertising. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(5), pp.195-204.

J. Degenhard, 2021. Mobile internet users in Vietnam 2010-2025.

M. Allen, 2017. The SAGE Encyclopedia of Communication Research Methods.

Nguyen Nhu Phuong Anh, Dai Hoc Kinh te Hue, 2018. Phân tích các yếu tố ảnh hưởng
đến quyết định mua smartphone cao cấp của khách hàng trên địa bàn thành phố Huế.

Osman et al, 2012. A Study of the Trend of Smartphone and its Usage Behavior in
Malaysia.

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The trend of choosing smartphone among ISBA first-year students in different hometowns.