The smartphone bubble that popped – a smarter techno savvy consumer.
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Date
2016
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Abstract
Abstract
This research investigated a shift in consumer behaviour due to the durability of smartphones, which has resulted in a smarter more techno-savvy consumer and ultimately a pop in the smartphone bubble. This shift emerged as power companies, such as Apple and Samsung, reported a decline in their smartphone sales as product introduction strategies failed due to a lack of innovation. This research looked at the role that brand preference, word of mouth (friends and family), product extensions, and paid vs. freemium applications play in a consumer‟s ultimate choice of purchasing a new smartphone. A quantitative study was conducted whereby a questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents at North Beach, Durban. The questionnaire consisted of two sections; the first section was used to collect demographic data and section two was used to collect data related to the objectives of the study. Section two was broken down into the following five categories: consumer behaviour, downloadable applications to add functionality, branded products vs. cheaper brands, word of mouth, and product extensions. A questionnaire based on a 5 point Likert scale was developed to collect data for this study. Respondents were asked to respond to statements by selecting any of the following options: Strongly agree, Agree, Uncertain, Disagree, or Strongly disagree. The data collected was then analysed in the form of both descriptive and inferential statistics by using the statistical software programs SPSS and Excel. These results were then used to prove the research questions and hypotheses of this study. The Smartphone Appreciation Model was specifically created for this research to prove that the smartphone bubble had popped. This model is based on a combination of factors, including product durability, word of mouth, brand preference, product extensions, freemium vs. paid application downloads to add functionality to a smartphone, and lack of innovation. Based on this model all these factors needed to fall within the area of acceptance to prove that a pop in the smartphone bubble had occurred. When hypothesis testing was conducted the results for each factor mentioned fell within the area of acceptance, therefore indicating that the smartphone bubble had popped.
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Master’s Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.