JAIN UNIVERSITY

Consumer Buying Behavior on iPhone

Factors affecting Consumer Buying
Behaviour

Presented by:
Nand Raj Ojha
Shivani Gogia
Vishnu vardhan
Alisha kumar
Vipul Singhal
Sameksha surana

The decision making process could be influenced by factors such as social, personal and
psychological.

Consumer Buying Behavior on iPhone

Introduction
Apple successfully created a lucrative product family that enabled its entry into the crowded
mobile phone market with its iPhone. In the short span of three years, Apple's iPhone has passed
RIM (BlackBerry) as global Smartphone. According to the report, Apple continued at a good clip
in iPhone 6 and 6s sales during its fourth fiscal quarter 2015, hitting 48 million units sold. Thats
up from 47.5 million in Q3 and a year-over-year increase from Q4 2014 at about 39 million units
sold, though slightly down from analysts expectations at 48.5 million.
iPhone is definitely an instant hit with Singaporeans, with Singapore being one of iPhone 3G's
most enthusiast Asian countries (Budi, P. 2008). It is not just the share of market that iPhone
owns but being first in the mind of consumers that make it such a hit in Singapore and
worldwide.
Consumers purchase decision refers to a series of decisions made by the consumers which are
subjected to their deeply held values and attitudes and their perception of the purchase before
establishing a willingness to buy. (Manoj, P., P. Flora and A. Gupta. 2010)

Factors Influencing Consumer Buying Behaviour

The decision making process could be influenced by factors such as social, personal and
psychological.
Social factors refer to reference groups, family, role and status while personal factors include
lifestyle, economic situation, occupation, age, personality and self concept.
Consumers are often influenced by their role and status as each person possesses different roles
and status in the society depending on individual's occupation.

Age and life-cycle have a great impact on the consumer buying behaviour as consumers change
the purchase of goods and services with the passage of time.
Meanwhile, psychological factors such as perception, motivation, beliefs and attitudes could
affect the way consumers perceive about the importance of the purchase and the way they
identify with the brand.
Therefore, the main gist of this study is to understand iPhone's competitive advantage by
identifying what key attributes consumers look for and what is it that makes iPhone more sought
after in the mobile market compared to other smartphones.

Social Factors
The first sub variable would be families, friends and colleagues as they strongly contribute to a
person's choice of mobile phone. This includes interaction with various membership, reference,
and organizations. A person often buys an item because it fulfills the desire to be acknowledged
for it by family, peers and other people he is related to or affiliated with.
Another social factor that impacts buying the iPhone is peer pressure; the consumer buys the
handset because everyone else is getting it and talking about it. Buyer behavior is strongly
influenced by the member of a family.
The consumers also tend to perceive that they can get more reliable products and guides when
following the majority because significant information is readily available in various venues.
From forums discussing the various iPhone concerns to first-hand experiences of families,
friends and colleagues, social and consumer forces contribute strongly to the purchase of an
iPhone. Social factors differ from cultural factors in that they involve smaller groups that affect
an individual's values and outlook when it comes to consumer behavior.
Reference groups have potential in forming a persons attitude or behavior. The impact of
reference groups varies across products and brands. For example if the product is visible such as
dress, shoes, car etc then the influence of reference groups will be high. Reference groups also
include opinion leader (a person who influences others because of his special skill, knowledge or
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other characteristics). The reference group has a great impact on the consumer behavior because
reference group are the one who serves as a point of comparison for an individual in the
formation of either general or specific values, attitudes, or behavior. You bring your reference
group with you for the following reasons: To get information or advice, to satisfy the
expectations of others and to be like a certain type of admired person a consumer identifies with
and wants to join.

Personal Factors
Personal factors can affect the consumer behavior, thus influencing brand recall and creating
brand awareness. In the case example of the "iPhone", we will be able to dive and ascertain the
list sub variable contributing to the Personal factor as independent variable. It is important to
look into Independent factors as it does considerably influence on the choice of a consumer when
purchasing iPhones over the rest of other smartphone.
Age :
Age is a contributing sub-variable of the Personal factor. There are different needs and wants
based on the age group of the consumer. Apple had successfully marketed "iphone" to the
consumer reaching out to everyone of the age group. Apple had done it by apps personalizing; to
suit ones needs and wants. Ultimately, making iPhone an irresistible "want" for the consumers
out there.
The Young (20 -35) are the targeted age group with high disposable income on as they tend to
use their smartphones in replacement to their PC for mobility. The Young are goal-oriented; they
want to get the live and latest news on the go. In parallel, a research had also been done on which
smartphone owners have highest credit card balances.
Lifestyle :
In view of current trends of the Apple iPhone, it inevitably had become a lifestyle with a fashion
statement.

Lifestyle indeed is a notably sub-variable for the personal factor. With the different customizable
functionality through thousands of apps in the apple appstore, it suits the ever busy consumer of
today with convenience and mobility. From social apps like whatsapp, facebook and twitter, it
connects people with instant live news and happening. With the thousand of games of different
genres to kill one's boredom or while in e.g. waiting scenarios, iphone not only fulfils the basic
requirements of a smartphone but bringing people to a whole new level and experience.
Economic Situation :
It is one of the contributing sub variables to Personal factors. Economic Situation variable is
dependable on a person's economic situation which will affect their product choice.
The Iphone might not be considered as affordable for everyone especially accompanied with or
without by the required data plan.
75 per cent of iPhone sales are now overseas and sales soared in particular in the Asia Pacific
region. In China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Apple recorded iPhone sales of $1.3 billion (84
million), up 200 per cent. This is the result of ASIA'S economy booming. Asia will be about 50
per cent larger in five years, making up more than a third of world output. In fact in 20 years'
time, Asian economic output will exceed that of the Group of Seven major industrial economies the United States, Japan, Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Italy (according to International
Monetary Fund, IMF). In view of this, it makes Apples iphone market shares increase
extensively leading to successful brand recall outside of the USA. Even in countries like
Singapore, where the majority of Singaporeans fall in the middle class tier with substantial
income. Apple iPhone is therefore considered inexpensive.
From the above analysis, we can see the 3 main sub-variable contributing to Personal factors thus
resulting to successful and impressive high brand recall to Apple's iphone. With the high brand
recall for Apple, it further leads to the creation of brand awareness. The creation of brand
awareness is the main foundation of any product's life cycle in target markets. In fact, brand
awareness has influence on buying behaviour of a buyer. Based on the above research done on
Apple iphone, the consumer indeed had a complete understanding of the brand; allowing them to
acknowledge and accept the brand (Apple).
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Psychological Factors
Psychological factors are the intrinsic nature within the consumers, base on past experiences and
collective knowledge, which influences their decision to act and purchase a product. The
psychological factors are further categorized into the individual's motivations, perceptions, and
beliefs and attitudes.
Motivation :
Motivation as we know it is the driving force which causes us to achieve goals. In purchasing an
iPhone, it falls on the higher levels of the Maslow's hierarchy of needs such as "Love and
belonging", "Esteem"or "Self-Actualization" respectively as the bottom levels - "Physiological
needs" and "Safety needs" have to be fulfilled in order to pay a premium for a Smartphones such
as an Iphone (A. Maslow, 1943)., the research has also shed light on people willing to pay more
for products only when they are motivated by.
Belief and attitude play a great deal of influence over consumer buying behaviour (K. Callwood,
2010). Consumers often block information that conflicts with their beliefs and attitudes, and they
tend to selectively retain information or even distort the information that was given to them to
make it consistent with their previous beliefs of the product. However the question here is what
constitutes to the collective beliefs and contributes to create the attitudes for iPhone and its brand
Apple? In article "The brand attitude formation process of emotional and informational ads",
research has shown that ads using an emotional ad format will heightens positive feelings and
reduces negative feelings and enhanced thoughts about credibility of the ad, which in turn
affected ad attitudes and brand attitudes. While on the other hand, for ads that uses an
informational ad format will enhance evaluative thoughts about the credibility of the ad thus
enhancing positive feelings and reducing negative feelings (C. Yoo and D. MacInnis 2005). From
this we understand that through the influence of advertising can directly affect consumer brand
attitudes and beliefs. We also note that several studies have shown that word-of-mouth (WOM)
communications also has a strong influence on the consumer's beliefs and attitudes towards the
products and its brand. In article, "Effects of Word-of-Mouth and Product - Attribute Information
on Persuasion: An Accessibility - Diagnosticity Perspective" has conducted experiments on the
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effects of word-of-mouth (WOM) communications to see whether it causes specific attribute

information on product evaluations. It was found that although a face-to-face WOM
communication was more persuasive than a printed ad and a strong WOM effect was found, but
this effect was reduced or eliminated when a prior impression of the target brand was available
from memory or when extremely negative or opposing attribute information was presented to the
target audience (P. M. HERR, F. R. KARDES and J. KIM, 1991). Hence, it is highly possible
that beliefs and attitudes plays a key role as a sub variable in influencing the psychological
aspects of an individual to brand recall and make the decision to purchase an iPhone.
Perception :
Consumers make all sorts of associations from their prior knowledge and experiences to form a
unique meaning and understanding to themselves known as Perception. If a company positions
itself as a low cost retail store, the consumer perception will be that everything that comes from
that store is cheap and subconsciously, poorer quality (K. Callwood, 2010). To the cost conscious
consumers, pricing strategy to brand perception is very important and it affects the way
consumers will value the product and will pay the price that was set for it (K. Pierre, 2010). With
a premium price set for Iphone, it can be assumed that Iphone will be of a better product quality
as shown in the article "Pricing Depends on varying Factors and not Value: Pricing Strategies
Have Promotional and Profit Maximization Goals" which states that Premium Pricing is when a
product is priced at a high price to give an impression of high value and that this price has no
relation to production and marketing costs. The intention here is to create a prestige value that
status-conscious customers seek (G. Thachappilly, 2009). Positive exposure of a consumer
product or brand will also influence consumer's perception as shown in article "Brand Perception
is Everything". We learnt that by measuring the purchase equivalent value of a brand's exposure,
which is determined by the frequency and exposure of news mentions and social dialogue, can
determine the impact on Perception value as measured by assigning positive value to positive
mentions and negative value to negative mentions (M. D'Antonio, 2011). We noted from the
article that Apple, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo, and Ford have topped the Impact list as they have
generated the largest exposure online and reached the most consumers thus creating and
generating the most positive impact on the consumer perception of their brands, placing them the
top of mind in terms of brand recall and awareness.
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Summing up all of the sub variables aforementioned, we can very clearly see these factors
affecting consumer behaviour indeed plays a big part in creating brand recall as well as brand
awareness. With a strong brand recall comes with greater brand awareness and this works
especially well to our advantage since iPhone is a tangible product. Taking all these into
consideration, product acceptance level would then increase. This will in turn boost the
consumer's preference and affect their buying decision when purchasing an iPhone.

Conclusion

The ability Apple has to address each factor allows it to optimize marketing by targeting the right
individual or group of people. Apple uses the cultural factor to target individuals who value
technology and want a product that is innovative. In order to target the right individual, Apple
must understand who the consumer is and what social factors influences that specific consumers
buying decision. In Apples case, for the most part, appeals to individuals who are college
students.

When looking at the personal factor, Apple addresses consumer behavior according to the
individuals life-cycle stage, occupation, and economic situation. Take for example the iPhone 5s
and 5c. These products were developed to address the needs of two different types of persons.
The 5c was designed to market to a younger generation, by offering the product at a lower price
and with color customization options. The iPhone 5s is a version of the iPhone that offers more
features, but are placed at a higher price. Besides appealing to individuals according to their lifecycle stage and economic situation, lifestyle and personality play a major role too.
Lastly, the psychological factor involves addressing individuals according to their motivations,
knowledge, perceptions, and beliefs and attitudes. Customers who have had a great experience
with Apple and have become loyal to the brand are more likely to buy Apple products without
the need of doing further research. Their perception and knowledge about the brand and the
product have a great influence over their buying decision. All in all, it is important for companies
to understand the way consumers behave and the factors impacting such behaviors.

References:
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The 4 factors influencing consumer behavior, Market Research, Consumer Behavior

& Neuromarketing.(n.d.). Retrieved October 29,2014,from http://theconsumerfactor.com/en/4factors-influencing-consumer-behavior/
Kotler Philip, Marketing Management, A South Asian Perspective, 14e

Table of Contents
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Consumer Buying Behaviour on iPhone.............................................................................. 2

Introduction.................................................................................................................. 2
Apple successfully created a lucrative product family that enabled its entry into the crowded mobile
phone market with its iPhone. In the short span of three years, Apple's iPhone has passed RIM
(BlackBerry) as global Smartphone. According to the report, Apple continued at a good clip in iPhone 6
and 6s sales during its fourth fiscal quarter 2015, hitting 48 million units sold. Thats up from 47.5 million
in Q3 and a year-over-year increase from Q4 2014 at about 39 million units sold, though slightly down
from analysts expectations at 48.5 million.............................................................................. 2
Social Factors............................................................................................................. 3
Personal Factors......................................................................................................... 4
Psychological Factors................................................................................................... 6
Conclusion
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References
..10

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