Analyzing the impact of individual lecture factors on new product adopting behavior of consumers in hanoi

Objectives of the study Objectives of the study: - Firstly, develop a scale of new electronic product adoption behavior - Next, determine the impacts of factors such as individualistic

CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

1.1 Reasons to choose the subject

New products are a vital part of the growth and the competitiveness strategy of

enterprises In fact, a large percentage of the sales of the enterprises are obtained from

new products In contrast, the experience of the world also indicates that many new

products are unsuccessful and not be accepted by customers Therefore, the

knowledge of the behavior of new product adoption by consumers will be a key

factor in ensuring that the enterprises will develop new products successfully

In the world, there have been a lot of studies on the behavior of new electronic

product adoption Most of the studies have focused on the impacts of product

characteristics, demographic characteristics and innovativeness on new electronic

product adoption behavior that have missed one important factor, individual culture

In fact, in recent years, personal culture has played a significant role in

promoting the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers in Vietnam

It is evidence that the personal culture factors such as originality, difference,

individuality, stylish, self-disclosure, activeness, freedom of choice are often

emphasized in the advertising messages of the electronic products for personal use to

convince consumers As a result, the sales of the electronic products in Vietnam in

recent years tend to increase, especially electronic products for personal use

Therefore, a study to test whether the individual cultural factors really affect the

behavior of new electronic product adoption behavior is theoretically and practically

essential With the reasons above, the study entitled “Analyzing the Impact of

Individual Lecture Factors on New Product Adopting Behavior of Consumers in

Hanoi; The Group of Consumer Electrical Goods" has been conducted

1.2 Objectives of the study

Objectives of the study:

- Firstly, develop a scale of new electronic product adoption behavior

- Next, determine the impacts of factors such as individualistic-self,

collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and innate consumer innovativeness on the new

electronic product adoption behavior

- Finally, propose some solutions to accelerate new electronic product adoption

in Hanoi

Research questions:

- What is the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers in

Hanoi urban area like?

- Do the personal cultural factors affect the behavior of new electronic product

adoption? Level of impact?

- What are solutions to accelerate adoption of new electronic products?

1.3 Objects and scopes of the study 1.3.1 Objects of the study:

The objects of the study include:

- Behavior of adoption and scale of the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers

- Theory and Practice of the impacts of personal cultural factors on the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers in Hanoi urban area

1.3.2 Scope of the study:

• Product group of the study

To achieve the objectives of the study, the electronic products for personal use (laptops, tablets, mobile phones) are selected to conduct research for the following reasons:

- This is a group of high-tech and innovative products considered the appropriate context for research on new product adoption behavior

- Key feature of electronic products for personal use is used for personal purposes Therefore, the selection and consumption can clearly reflects the personal characteristics

• Space of the study: Surveyed subjects are consumers in Hanoi urban area

• Time of the study: The study is conducted in 2013

1.4 New contributions of the study 1.4.1 In terms of theory

(i) The study has affirmed the impact of innovativeness on new electronic product adoption behavior in Vietnam. Innovativeness has a positive and strong impact (β = 0.169) on the new electronic product adoption behavior

(ii) The study has supplemented and proven 2 individual cultural factors affecting the new electronic product adoption behavior in the context of economic transformation of Vietnam to the system of elements mentioned in the previous studies. These additional factors include individualistic-self and uncertainty avoidance The individualistic-self has a positive and strongest impact (β = 0.204), while uncertainty avoidance has a negative and strong impact (β = - 0.178) on the new electronic product adoption behavior

(iii)The study has developed a scale of the new electronic product adoption behavior It is the frequency of purchasing new consumer eletronics that shows level

of the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers in a certain time

period This scale has not been mentioned in the previous studies

1.4.2 In terms of practice

(i) The study has identified and specified the level of impact of each individual

cultural factor on new electronic product adoption behavior by consumers in Hanoi

urban area Thereby, it has supported enterprises in controlling these factors to

increase the success of new electronic products

(ii) The study has made recommendations for the enterprises manufacturing

electronic products for reference and use in the process of new product marketing

1.4 Organization of the study

To present the entire contents of the study, it is organized into the following

five chapters:

Chapter 1: Overview of the study

Chapter 2: Rationale and model of the study

Chapter 3: Methodology

Chapter 4: Findings

Chapter 5: Discussion and recommendation

CHAPTER 2 RATIONALE AND MODEL OF THE STUDY

IMAPCTS OF SOME INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL FACTORS ON THE NEW

PRODUCT ADOPTION BEHAVIOR

2.1 Overview of the studies on the new product adoption behavior

2.1.1 Overview of the studies in the world

2.1.1.1 The concepts of the new product adoption behavior

Around the world, there are two concepts of new product adoption behavior

One is that new product adoption is a process Another is new product adoption is a

behavior (Rogers and Shoemaker, 1971; Hirschman, 1980, Midley and Dowling,

1978) The concept of new product adoption of Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) is used

more commonly

2.1.1.2 Overview of factors affecting the new electronic product adoption behavior

From summary of the previous studies, it can be seen that the factors affecting

new electronic product adoption behavior have been identified and confirmed These

factors can be divided into three groups The first group presents demographic

characteristics The second is psychological characteristics such as innate consumer

innovativeness and consumer attitude The last one is the perception of the attributes

of the new products

Demographic characteristics

Most studies have confirmed that those adopting new electronic products are generally male, having better jobs and higher income and education level (Dickerson and Gentry, 1983; Wang, 2006; Venkatraman, 1991) In addition, Dickerson and Gentry (1983), Wang (2006) and Im, et al (2003) have demonstrated that the age has negative impact on the behavior of new electronic product adoption while Venkatraman (1991) has confirmed the opposite view point

Psychological characteristics

In fact, the results of experimental studies inthe US, Europe and Asia on the relationship between innate consumer innovativeness and the new product adoption behavior have shown very different evidences, from a strong and positive relationship (such as the studies of Foxall and Bhate, 1991; Goldsmith et al., 1995; Wood and Swait, 2002; Paswan and Hirunyawipada, 2006; Ho and Wu, 2011), to a very weak relationship (such as the studies of Im et al., 2003; Chao et al., 2010, 2012) In addition, consumer attitudes have a significant impact on the new electronic product adoption behavior (Wang, 2006)

Perception of the attributes of new products

Perception of the attributes of new products affects the new electronic product adoption behavior (Paswan and Hirunyawipada, 2006; Ho and Wu, 2011);

Thus, the results of the studies in the world show a lack of studies explaining the new electronic product adoption behavior in terms of culture

2.1.2 Overview of the studies in Vietnam

Up to the completion of the study, in Vietnam, there is no official works with similar or same contents as this study

2.2 Theoretical foundations of the new product adoption behavior 2.2.1 Concepts

2.2.1.1 Concept of new products According to Kotler (1994), new products may be new products, in principle, improved from existing products or new brands as a result of research, design and testing of enterprises (Kotler, 1994)

2.2.2.2 Concept of the behavior of new product adoption According to Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) representing the behavior concept,

“The new product adoption behavior is the degree to which an individual accepts

innovation relatively earlier than other individuals in society."

According to this concept, the behavior of new product adoption not only includes new product purchase but also relates the time of the new product adoption

2.2.2.3 Consumer electronics - CE

According to Webopedia, consumer electronics, referred to as electronic

products, include devices that contain electronic circuit boards designed for everyday

use The electronic products include televisions, cameras, digital cameras, phones,

computers, camcorders, DVD, clocks, audio equipment, headphones and some other

products

2.2.2 Measurement of the new product adoption behavior

2.2.2.1 Time of new product adoption

The new product adoption behavior by consumers is measured by the time of a

specific new product adoption over the time of adoption of other consumers (Rogers

and Shoemaker, 1971)

Advantages:

- The scale is based on the real behavior of new product purchase of customers

- The scale is simple, easy to use

Limitations:

- This scale only measures a single product and has been criticized for

sensitiveness and creation of biases in the study (Midgley and Dowling, 1978)

- The scale may be wrong due to the variable situations

- Difficulties in the process of collecting the data because consumers are

required to memorize the time of new product purchase to answer the questionnaire

2.2.2.2 Number of new products owned by consumers

The behavior of new product adoption by consumers is measured by the

number of new products owned by customers (Goldsmith et al., 1995) According to

this measure, researchers shall list new products at the time of the investigation, and

then ask the respondents on the number of new products in the list they own

Advantages:

- The scale is based on the real behavior of new product purchase of customers

- This scale refers to an overall behavior other than a specific product

Limitations:

- This scale only provides the cross-sectional data

- Researchers may have trouble listing new products at the time of the survey

2.2.2.3 Intention to purchase new products

Thirdly, the behavior of new product adoption by consumers is measured by

intention of purchasing new products (Holak and Lehmann, 1990)

If the first and the second scale represent the real behavior of new product by consumers, the third scale shows the intention to purchase new products

2.3 Theoretical foundations of culture and individual culture 2.3.1 Concept of culture and levels of culture

2.3.1.1 Concept of culture

According to the simplest concept of Yeniyurt and Townsend (2003), "Culture

is seen as the shared trust and values."

According to Hofstede (2001),"Culture is a system of shared values and ideas that distinguish the members of one group with another group"

The common feature of these is that the culture represents spiritual values, which converges in each individual as social perception and labor capacity

2.3.1.2 Levels of culture

Culture is divided into 3 levels by Yan Luo (2009): Social culture; Communal culture; Individual culture (Figure 2.16)

Figure: Levels of culture

Source: Yan Luo, 2009

Social culture

High Culture

Macro culture

Intermediary culture

Micro culture

Wide cultural environment

Narrow cultural environment

Communal culture

Individual Culture

2.3.2 Structures of individual culture

In the field of research, there are many different theories focusing on the

identification of individual cultural factors including "Research on the values" of

Rokeach et al (1931), "Individual Culture" of Mc Clelland (1991), and "Individual

cultural structure" of Schwartz (1994) In particular, the theory of "Individual cultural

structure" of Schwartz (1994) is relatively comprehensive and most commonly used

in quantitative research

This theory introduces 10 individual cultural values (see Table ) Each

individual cultural factor is determined based on the objectives that it aims to

(Schwartz et al., 2000) These values form two groups: (i) openness to change and

conservation, (ii) self-enhancement versus self-transcendence

Table: Personal cultural structure of Schwartz (1994)

Individual

cultural

factors

Individualistic-self

Think and act independently and creatively

Creation, freedom, choice

of own goals, curiousness, independence

Innate

consumer

Innovativeness

Be interested in novelty and challenge

life Hedonism Joy and satisfaction of the senses Joy, enjoying of life

Achievements Success is based on the capacity under

social standards

Ambitious, successful, capable, influential Power Social status and prestige, control or

domination of other people and resources

Powers, wealth, social power

Uncertainty

avoidance

Safety, harmony and stability in the relationship, in itself and in society

Social order, family stability, national stability Compliance

with social

norms

Limitation of actions, impulsive tendencies which are capable of harm others or violate the expectations or social norms

Politeness, self-discipline, obedience, respect for parents and elders Collectivism Respect, commitment, adoption of the

customs and ideas of traditional culture and religion

Modesty, morality, adoption of his position in society and harmony

Altruism Protect and enhance the interests of

those who have a relationship with yourself ("in the Group")

Support others, honesty, selflessness, responsibility, loyalty, sincere in

friendship, seriousness in love

Individual cultural factors

Social responsibility

Sympathy, recognition, tolerance, and protection of the interests of all people and nature

Further thought, social justice, equality, environmental protection

2.4 Model and hypotheses of the study 2.4.1 Model and the variables in the model

Based on the individual cultural structure of Schwartz (1994) and the results of the review of the previous studies, the author has proposed four individual cultural factors namely individualistic-self, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance and innate consumer innovativeness to the model (after controlling demographic factors such as age, income and education level) The reason why these variables are considered control variables is that based on the review from the previous studies, these variables have statistic relationship with the dependent variables To ensure the coherence of the model, three demographic variables are included in the model as control variables All the variables and relationships between these variables are presented in the following model:

Figure: Preliminary model of the study

New electronic product adoption behavior

Intention of purchasing new consumer electronics

Uncertainty avoidance

(Jung and Kellaris, 2004)

Collectivism

2003)

Innovativeness

(Manning et al, 1995)

+

-

-

+

Individualistic-self

2003)

Control Variables

- Age

- Income

- Education level

• Individualistic-self and collectivism

Individualistic-self includes independence, self-driven, freedom and confidence

in yourself while collectivism relates to dependence, towards other individuals,

harmony and similarity(Hui, 1984; Triandis et al, 1988) [53]

In the context of Vietnam, scales of individualistic-self and collectivism of

Singelis (1994, 1995) have been developed by Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al (2003) in

a comprehensive manner Therefore, the cales of individualistic-self and collectivism

of Nguyen Thi Tuyet Mai et al (2003) will be used in this thesis

• Uncertainty avoidance

Uncertainty avoicdance is the degree to which a person accepts or rejects risk

(the situation/environment unstable or unstructured) (Hofstede, 2001; Mooij and

Hofstede, 2002; Veiga, 2001)

In recent year, Jung and Kellaris (2004) have focused on building the scaleof

uncertainty avoidance in terms of personal aspect Therefore, the study uses the scale

of uncertainty avoidance of Jung and Kellaris (2004) instead of that of Hofstede

although Hofstede's scale has been widely used in many studies

• Innate consumer innovativeness

Innate consumer innovativeness is a general characteristic which is difficult to

observe and reflect innovativeness of a person, personality and cognitive style in

many different situations

Innate consumer innovativeness is inherited and used the scale of Manning et

al (1995) Innate consumer nnovativeness is measured through the demand for

searching information on new products

• New electronic product adoption behavior: is measured by the intention of

purchasing new consumer eletronics (Holak and Lehmann, 1990)

• Control variables and measurement

Age of consumers is measured by the number of years from their birth Income

of consumers is measured by the average monthly income (from all sources) of

consumers Education level of consumers is represented by the secondary education

or lower, high school graduation, college/university graduation and post-graduation

2.4.2 Hypotheses of the study

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Individualistic-self has positive impact (+) on the new

electronic product adoption behavior

Hypothesis 2 (H2): Collectivism has negative impact (-) on the new electronic

product adoption behavior

Hypothesis 3 (H3): Uncertainty avoidance has negative impact (-) on the new electronic product adoption behavior.

Hypothesis 4 (H4): Innate consumer innovativeness has positive impact (+) on the new electronic product adoption behavior

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Qualitative study

3.1.1 Objectives of the in-depth interviews

- Test and screen independent variables as well as determine the relationship between the variables in the research model

- Adjust and supplement the scale for research concepts

3.1.2 Method of the in-depth interviews

- Participants in-depth interviews (the respondent)

The in-depth interviews have conducted with 10 consumers in Hanoi urban area They owns new electronic products such as smart phone, tablet, camera

- Contents of in-depth interviews:

Basically, the interviews focus on the new electronic product adoption behavior and other positive and negative factors

- Collection and processing of information:

Data have been collected through direct interview technique Then, the data have been compared to synthesize the general concept for the study

3.1.3 Results of qualitative study

- Test the independent variables: Preliminary research model is unchanged and

is regarded as the official model of the study

- Assess the scales: The scales are unchanged in the questionnaire in

quantitative study after a few minor adjustments

- Develop a scale of the behavior of new product adoption: Frequency of purchasing new electronic products

3.1.4 Official research model and scale 2

The study uses two scales of the new electronic product adoption behavior (intention of purchasing new consumer electronics and frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics) Therefore, the official model and hypotheses of the study are

as follows:

Figure: Official model of the study

Official hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1a (H 1a ): Individualistic-self has positive impact (+) on the

intention of purchasing new consumer electronics

Hypothesis 1b (H 1b ): Individualistic-self has positive impact (+) on the

frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

Hypothesis 2a (H 2a ): Collectivism has negative impact (-) on the intention of

purchasing new consumer electronics

Hypothesis 2b (H 2b ): Collectivism has negative impact (-) on the frequency of

purchasing new consumer electronics.

Hypothesis 3a (H 3a ): Uncertatinty avoidance has negative impact (-) on the

intention of purchasing new consumer electronics.

Hypothesis 3b (H 3b ): Uncertainty avoidance has negative impact (-) on the

frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

Hypothesis 4a (H 4a ): Innate consumer innovativeness has positive impact (+)

on the intention purchasing new consumer electronics

New electronic product adoption behavior

Intention of purchasing new consumer electronics

Frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

Uncertainty

avoidance

(Jung and Kellaris, 2004)

Collectivism

2003)

Innovativeness

(Manning et al, 1995)

+

-

-

+

Individualistic-self

2003)

Control Variables

- Age

- Income

- Education level

Hypothesis 4b (H 4b ): Innate consumer innovativeness has positive impact (+)

on the frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

3.2 Quantitative study 3.2.1 Preliminary Qualitative Study

- Design the questionnaire: In addition to the introduction and management part, the main contents of the questionnaire include questions about individualistic-self, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, innate consumer innovativeness of consumers, the new electronic product adoption behavior and demographic information (age, gender, income, education level .) and a number of questions about the intensity and frequency of new electronic product adoption built by the author

- Sample size: n = 79

- Method of data analysis: Cronbach's coefficient alpha

- Results of a preliminary assessment of the scale: Removal of the two observed variables NT5 and TK6 The remaining scales ensure reliability for use in official quantitative research

3.2.2 Official quantitative study

Sample size: 524 units

Sampling method: Stratified sampling by geographic criteria The sample units are selected by convenient sampling method

Data collection: The data collection with the help of colleagues is taken place

at venues such as shopping centers, universities, hospitals, of the seven districts of Hanoi

Data analysis: EFA, Cronbach's Alpha, regression analysis

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS 4.1 The situation of new electronic product adoption behavior by consumers in Hanoi urban area

4.1.1 Descriptive statistics of samples

After 700 questionnaires are sent out, 634 questionnaires have been collected,

in which 524 questionnaires ensure eligibility for analysis

4.1.1.1 Descriptive statistics of samples according to demographic variables Structure of research samples is built statistically in terms of gender, age, income and education levels

(i) In terms of gender: 210 respondents are male, accounting for 40.1% and

314 remaining correspondents are women, accounting for 59.9% The statistics show

that characteristic of the research samples in which the percentage of female is higher

than that of male is perfectly suited to the characteristic of the population of Hanoi

urban areas

(ii) In terms of age: Respondents in the age group from 18 to under 25 account

for the largest proportion of 62.6%; followed by the age group from 26 to under 35

accounting for 26.0%; the age group from 36 to 54 accounts for 9.5%; and the age

group under 18 accounts for 1.1%; The remaining group from 55 and older accounts

for 0.8% The average age of the sample is 25.67 years old

(iii) In terms of income: 65.3% of respondents has incomes of less than 5

million dong/ month corresponding to 342 people; 20.2% has incomes from 5 to

under 10 million dong corresponding to 106 people; 6.9% has incomes from 10 to

under 15 million dong corresponding to 36 people; 3.4% has incomes from 15 to

under 20 million dong corresponding to 18 people and 4.2% has incomes of 20

million dong corresponding to 22 people The average income of the sample is 5.6

million dong/ month (from all sources), which is higher than the average income of

the country

(iiii) In terms of education levels: 45.8% of the respondents graduated from

College/ University (240 people), 37.8% of high school graduates (198 people),

15.6% of correspondents with postgraduate qualifications (82 people) and 8% of

correspondents has not graduated from high school (4 people) The education level of

the sample is high, which is consistent with the characteristics of consumers in Hanoi

urban area

4.1.1.2 Desriptive statistics on individual cultural factors of the samples

The individualistic-self and innate consumer innovativeness of the research

samples are higher than the average point (reaching 3.4835 and 3.4256 points on

5-point Likert scale) Collectivism and uncertainty avoidance of the research samples

are relatively high (reaching 3.7306 and 3.7761 points on 5-point Likert scale)

4.1.2 Situation of new electronic product adoption

(a) Frequency of purchasing new consumer eletronics: New mobile phones are

purchased by consumers with the greatest frequency (average of 2.23 times/2 years),

followed by new laptops (average of 1.64 times/ 3 years) and new tablets (average of

1.18 times/ 2 years) (Table 4.7)

(B) Intention of purchasing new consumer eletronics: at the average score

(reaching 3.1 points on 5-point Likert scale)

(C) Time of purchasing new consumer eletronics: Most of respondents

purchase consumer electronics at the end of the year with a percentage of 47.3%,

corresponding to 248 people, 29.8% of respondents corresponding to 156 people purchase products in mid-year and 22.9% of correspondents corresponding to120

people purchase at the beginning of the year

(D) Occasions of purchasing new consumer eletronics: Consumers in Hanoi urban area buy new consumer electronics on the occasions of promotions, discounts, etc Few people purchase new products as soon as manufacturers introduce them to the market

4.2 Results of evaluation on the official scale 4.2.1 Evaluation on distribution form of the official scale

Scales on individualistic-self, collectivitism, uncertainty avoidance, innate consumer innovativeness, purchase intention and frequency of purchasing new mobile phones all have normal distribution and ensure performance requirements of the next tests However, the frequency of purchasing new laptops is positively skewed distribution with a long tail to the right Therefore, Recenter technique which

is applied overcomes the situation of positively skewed distribution of variables and satisfies requirements of the next tests

4.2.2 Evaluation on value of the official scale

EFA results obtaining 26 observed variables are classified into 4 factors in

"Initial eigenvalues" >1 The total variance which can be explained when factor groups are drawn is 55.808% (> 50%) Four factors which are individualistic-self, collectivitism, uncertainty avoidance and innate consumer innovativeness are the observed variables which download an independent factor corresponding to the value

of factor loading > 0.3

4.2.3 Evaluation on reliability of the official scale Table: Reliability of the official scale

variables

Cronbach's Alpha

4 Innate consumer innovativeness

Results of evaluation on reliability of the scale show that most of Cronbach's

alpha values are greater than the required value which is 0.7 Most of Cronbach's

Alpha values in the case of excluding variables are lower than Cronbach's Alpha

value The values of item-total correlation are greater than 0.3 Therefore, the scales

used are highly reliable

4.3 Results of tests on impacts of some individual cultural factors on the new

electronic product adoption behavior

This is an important phase of the theme that aims to answer the research

questions To achieve results, multiple regression method is used to test the relation

of independent variables and dependent variable

Because the act of new electronic product adoption is measured by two scales:

(i) Intention of purchasing new consumer electronics and (ii) Frequency of

purchasing new electronic products; therefore, multiple regression analysis is

conducted respectively with two models:

- Model 1: Testing the relation between four individual cultural factors and

intention of purchasing new consumer electronics, after the effects of age, education

level and income are controlled

- Model 2: Testing the relation between four individual cultural factors and

intention of purchasing new consumer electronics, after the effects of age, education

level and income are controlled

Regression results with Intention of purchasing new consumer electronics

Regression results show that the regression model with dependent variable

which is intention of purchasing new consumer electronics does not have statistical

significance There are no adequate bases for accepting these hypotheses H1a,H2a, H3a

andH4a

Table: Regression results between some individual cultural factors and intention

of purchasing new consumer electronics

Equation Variable

1 Beta

2 Beta Control variables

Main variable

N = 524; p ≤ 0.1; *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001 All correlation coefficients are standardized

Regression results with the frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

There are two regression equations which are calculated for the dependent variable (frequency of purchasing new electronic products) are detailed in the table below The first regression equation includes only control variables as independent variables The second regression equation is a full model including all control variables and main variables which are included in the model simultaneously In the second regression equation, three control variables and four individual cultural factors are regarded as independent variables

The results show that both regression equation have statistical significance at p

<0.01 This confirms the correlation between the four individual cultural factors and frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics with the reliability of 99%, after factors such as age, education level and income of consumers are controlled Thus, it can be concluded that one of the four individual cultural factors has an impact on the frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics of consumers The second model

is suitable for data collection and it can be used

The regression results also show that values of adjusted R2 of both equations are 0.038 and 0.162 respectively It is seen that with this data set, control variables (age, education, income) can explain 3.8% of the variation of frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics if they stand alone, they can explain 16.2% of the variation of frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics if they combine with four individual cultural factors In addition, the value of Fchange is 20.248 with sig = 0.000.Therefore, it is possible to confirm that independent variables (individualistic-self, collectivitism, uncertainty avoidance and innate consumer innovativeness) which can explain additionally 12.4% of the variation of the act of new electronic product acceptance (frequency of purchasing new electronic products) have statistical significance after the effects of age, education and income are controlled This result also confirmsthat there are adequate bases for accepting these hypotheses H1b, H3b, H4b. The individualistic-self and innate consumer innovativeness have a positive impact on frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics, while uncertainty avoidance has a negative impact on frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics Regression equation is expressed as follows:

NPA = 0,866+ 0,204 CN- 0,178.NT + 0,169.TK +

Table: Regression results between individual cultural factors and frequency of

purchasing new consumer electronics

Equation Variable

1 Beta

2 Beta Control variables

Main variable

Innate consumer

innovativeness

0.169 ***

N = 524; p ≤ 0.1; *p ≤ 0.05; **p ≤ 0.01; ***p ≤ 0.001

All correlation coefficients are standardized

4.3.3 Comparison of two research models

As above, the first model with dependent variable which is intention of

purchasing new consumer electronics does not have statistical significance The

research has not found the correlation between individual factors and intention of

purchasing new consumer electronics This result is entirely consistent with the

research context which is the new consumer electronics Because of the fact that with

new consumer electronics in the future, consumers may not realize, understand and

may not be aware of new features of them Hence, they find it difficult to imagine

new electronic products obviously As a result, with the question on the intention of

purchasing new consumer electronics in the future, the answers of consumers are

often uncertain and neutral This is the reason why the study has not discovered any

significant correlation between a number of individual cultural factors and intention

of purchasing new consumer electronics

Meanwhile, the model 2 with the dependent variable which is the frequency of

purchasing new consumer electronics has statistical significance (p <0.01) In

addition, by the coefficient of determination which is adjusted R2, adding four individual cultural factors in the model 2 helps explain additional 12.4% of the variation of new electronic product adoption behavior (frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics) after the effects of demographic variables are controlled Therefore, the regression model 2 with dependent variable which is frequency

of purchasing new consumer electronics is better suited to the fact of new electronic production adoption by consumers in Hanoi urban area The scale of frequency of purchasing new products is more suitable and effective than intention of purchasing new consumer electronics in the context of the dissertation

CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Key findings of the study

Over the past half century, there have been many studies which contribute to discover factors having influence on adoption behaviors towards new electronic products within different contexts These factors can be classified into two categories: demographic characteristics including age, gender, income, education level and occupation; and psychological characteristics such as innovative psychology of consumers and consumption attitudes In a meantime, observations in actuality indicated that it is cultural values of individuals that exerted influence on the new electronic product adoption behavior Therefore, the study aims to brigde such theoretical gap by explaining those behaviors from perspectives of individual cultural factors, which have been specified by Schwartz (1994)

A combination of qualitative and quanitative investigation has been conducted

on the basis of surveying 524 consumers in Hanoi urban area to study on influence of individual cultural factors towards their adoption behaviors Thanks to that, the study has drawn new and important conclusions

The study results revealed that individualistic-self, uncertainty avoidance and innate consumer innovativeness exert considerable influence on their new product adoption behavior These behaviors are observed by frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics, which are most strongly driven by the individualistic-self (β = 0.204) This is the first time in this study that the relation betweenindividualistic-self, uncertainty avoidance and new electric product adoption behaviors has been discovered However, the study could not figure out the relationships between several cultural factors by individualistic-self and intention of purchasing new consumer electronics as well as the relationship between collectivism and frequency of purchasing new consumer electronics

5.2 Discussion on study results

5.2.1 Influence of the individualistic-self

Hypothesis H1b “The individualistic-self has positive impact on new electronic

product behavior” is accepted

As of the context in Vietnam, such results are absolutely consistent Today,

Vietnam is a country whose the transformed economy, traditional values as well as

collectiveness still exist in parallel with modern cultural values The

individualistic-self among such modern values, however, has been increasingly popular in Vietnam

A majority of Vietnamese people, though brought up in a collective environment,

have changed their attitudes from “earn to survive” to another individualistic

viewpoint of “earn to enjoy” as a result of war effects and increasingly properous

living condions

According to these results, individualistic consumers tend to focus on personal

goals and achievements while enjoying competition, proving themselves and their

own personality New electronic products nowadays have gradually been innovated

in regard of technology for better performance in workplace (microprocessing unit

Core i3, i5, i7, smart phones, cameras, digital camera, etc.) Possession of such

innovative electronic (hi-tech) products enables individuals to gain achievements in

job performance as well as facilitate their expression of personality This is also the

reason inducing their accepting behaviors towards innovative electronic products

5.2.2 Influence of uncertainty avoidance

Hypothesis H3b “uncertainty avoidance has negative impact on new electronic

production adoption behavior” is accepted

The discovery is absolutely in consistency with cultural characteristics of

Vietnamese consumers According to survey results, Vietnamese consumers have a

relatively high level of uncertainty avoidance It is because today we are facing a

market which is saturated with inadequate information from media and other

non-individual channels Thus, personal information, and word of mouth cover mostly

these media

Due to imperfect source of information about products in Vietnam, consumers

have to face a high level of risk when approaching a new product

First risk is entailed in new introduction of the product itself Due to its first

time of introduction in the market, consumers find it difficult to fully understand of

properties as well as comparison among previously accepted products, which results

in uncertainty of comparative advantages of a new product It is their uncertainty that

entails worry and suspection among people afraid of risk They even associate

products’ benefits with their negative impacts on their lives Such embarrasment and

suspection of these people induce them to persist in usage of familiar products instead

of experiencing new ones Consequently, risks posed by new introduction of products inhibit new electronic product adoption behavior in Viet Nam

Second, risk originates from time required to adapt As we all know, a majority

of electronic products are fabricated thanks to advanced technology When adopting a new product, consumers are required to spend time learning new techonology and softwares attached by the product However, people who are afraid of risk and changes tend to select products based on available knowledge of technology In fact, they often choose products that are not too innovative to mitigate such risks, assuming that new electronic products are of equal quality

Third is economic risk When introducing new electronic products into the market, producers usually set a high price before decreasing their value sharply even within 2 months Consumers, as a result, face with pricing risk, which to some extent hinders acceptance of new electronic products

5.2.3 Influence of innate consumer innovativeness

Hypothesis H4b “Innovative psychology has positive effects on accepting behavior towards new electronic products” is accepted

According to Manning and his assistant (1995), innovative consumers are those who enjoy experiencing new things, as well as searching information of new products, and regularly visiting places exhibiting new products to gain experience They also tend to positively adapt to new products because of their appealing benefits, applications, styles, colors Furthermore, they are always actively search information about products and become pioneer in consumption of newly introduced products As a pioneer, consumers will become consultant of surrouding people on product information, which in turn promotes their social status to some extent Accordingly, innovators are those who proactively search information and become interested in product innovation Compared with other individuals, they are the ones who know new products and new technology earlier, and more easily adopt new electronic products

5.2.4 Answers to research questions

(1) What is the behavior of new electronic product adoption by consumers in Hanoi urban area like?

Answer: Consumers in Hanoi urban area purchase new mobile phones with the highest frequency (2.23 times/2 years on average), followed by new laptops (1.64 times/3 years on average) and new tablets (1.18 times/2 years on average) Thus,

Consumers within of Hanoi urban area purchase new mobile phones more regularly

than tablets and laptops

(2) Do individual cultural factors affect the behavior of new electronic product adoption?Level of impact?