Exploring the factors affecting purchase intention of smartphone a study of office workers in ho chi minh city, vietnam

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Independence - Freedom - Happiness ASSURANCE QUALIFIED THESIS Student’s Name: Nguyen Thanh Trung Hieu Title

INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM SCHOOL OF BUSINESS Independence - Freedom - Happiness

ASSURANCE QUALIFIED THESIS

Student’s Name: Nguyen Thanh Trung Hieu

Title of Thesis: EXPLORING THE FACTORS AFFECTING PURCHASE

INTENTION OF SMARTPHONE: A STUDY OF OFFICE WORKERS IN HOCHIMINH CITY, VIETNAM

EXPLORING THE FACTORS AFFECTING PURCHASE INTENTION OF SMARTPHONE: A STUDY OF OFFICE WORKERS IN HOCHIMINH

CITY, VIETNAM

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In Marketing

By

Mr Nguyen Thanh Trung Hieu

ID: MBA05010 International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

September 2014

EXPLORING THE FACTORS AFFECTING PURCHASE INTENTION OF

SMARTPHONE: A STUDY OF OFFICE WORKERS IN HOCHIMINH CITY,

VIETNAM

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In Marketing

by

Mr Nguyen Thanh Trung Hieu

ID: MBA05010 International University - Vietnam National University HCMC

September 2014 Under the guidance and approval of the committee, and approved by all its members, this thesis has been accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Approved:

Acknowledge This study would not have been completed without the kind guidance and the support

of my supervisor, my family and friends

First of all, I would like to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor Dr Pham Hong Hoa for her valuable guidance, advices and recommendations throughout this research Thank you for your kind support every time I am in need for consultation

I would like to express my great appreciation to all the teachers of the Master‟s program in the International University, who imparted their knowledge and experience to me during the past two years

I would like to give special thanks to my beloved family which has been my

inspiration throughout the past time and always been the endless source of joy in my life

It is also my pleasure to have the opportunity to study with classmates from MBAIU05 who have shared with me their impressive knowledge and skills during the challenging courses of the MBA program

Finally, I would like to thank the members of the Examination Committee for taking time and giving valuable comments so that I could improve this thesis

Plagiarism Statements

I would like to declare that, apart from the acknowledged references, this thesis either does not use language, ideas, or other original material from anyone; or has not been previously submitted to any other educational and research programs or institutions I fully understand that any writings in this thesis contradicted to the above statement will automatically lead to the rejection from the MBA program at the International University – Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City

Copyright Statement This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognize that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author‟s prior consent

© Nguyen Thanh Trung Hieu/MBA05010/2011-2014

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Problems 2

1.3 Research Questions 3

1.4 Research Objectives 3

1.5 Research scope and limitation 3

1.6 Significant of the Research 4

1.7 Research Methodology 4

1.8 Structure of Research 6

Chapter One: Introduction 6

1.8.1 Chapter Two: Literature review 6

1.8.2 Chapter Three: Research Methodology 6

1.8.3 Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Findings 6

1.8.4 Chapter Five: Conclusion 6

1.8.5 Chapter 2 Literature Review 7

2.1 Dependent Variable 7

Purchase Intention Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.1 2.2 Independent variable 8

Price 8

2.2.1 Brand 10

2.2.2 Compatibility 10

2.2.3 Product Feature 11

2.2.4 Relative Advantage 12

2.2.5 Social Influences 13

2.2.6 2.3 Review of relevant theory 13

Diffusion of innovations 13

2.3.1 Social Identity Theory 15

2.3.2 Theory of Materialism 15

2.3.3 2.4 Proposed Theoretical Framework 17

2.5 Hypothesis Development 17

Chapter 3 Methodology 19

3.1 Research design 19

3.2 Data collection methods 19

Primary data 19 3.2.1

Secondary data 20

3.2.2 Sampling design 20

3.2.3 Sampling Technique 21

3.2.4 Research instrument 22

3.2.5 3.3 Data analysis 26

Descriptive statistics 26

3.3.1 Reliability test 26

3.3.2 Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) 27

3.3.3 Pearson Correlation Coefficient Test 27

3.3.4 Multiple regression analysis 27

3.3.5 Chapter 4 DATA ANALYISIS AND Findings 29

4.1 Sample description 29

Sample 29

4.1.1 Demographic profile 29

4.1.2 4.2 Descriptive statistics 33

4.3 Cronbach’s alpha reliability test 36

4.4 Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) 39

4.5 Pearson Correlation Coefficient 43

4.6 Multiple Regression Analysis 45

4.7 Test of Hypothesis 47

Chapter 5 CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Conclusion 51

5.2 Practical implication 53

5.3 Limitation and further recommendation 53

Table 1 - Coded items of measurement scale 26

Table 2 - Rules of Thumb about Correlation Coefficient 27

Table 3 - Demographic of Respondents 30

Table 4 - Crosstab between age and average income of respondents 32

Table 5 – Descriptive statistics of respondents 34

Table 6 - Cronbach's Alpha rule based on George and Mallery 36

Table 7 - Reliability test for consumer‟s Purchase Intention on smartphone 37

Table 8 – Reliability test of Brand (1st run) 38

Table 9 - Reliability test of Brand (2nd run) 38

Table 10 - Reliability test of Brand (3rd run) 39

Table 11 - The final table of Cronbach‟s alpha reliability test 39

Table 12 – Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for independent variables 41

Table 13 – Group of EFA 42

Table 14 – Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) for independent variables 43

Table 15 - Pearson Correlation Testing 44

Table 16 - Multiple regression testing 47

Table 17 - Reliability Test of Respondents 71

Figure 1 - Diffusion of innovations model Rogers, E.M (1995) 14

Figure 2 - Conceptual model: Factors affect Purchase Intention of smartphone 17

Figure 3 - Sex of Respondents 30

Figure 4 - Age of Respondents 31

Figure 5 - Average income of respondents 31

Abstract

In a world of digital devices, people require more convenient and powerful gadgets on hand to support for their daily works as well as their need for entertainment Smartphone is invented to fulfill those demands, furthermore, provided a most compact assistant in the pocket While replace some simple task of work from the traditional computers, smartphone also play a vital role in people‟s lifestyle This leads to a booming in the smartphone industry while more and more people want to own one smartphone Nevertheless, it is a fact that there are too many brand of smartphone found at the current, making the process of choosing a smartphone become more complicated

The study aim to explore the factors affecting Purchase Intention of smartphone among the office workers in Hochiminh City The initial factors include: Price, Brand, Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Product Features, Social Influence and Purchase Intention 218 respondents have provided data for the study The process of collecting

is online surveys via the Qualtrics electronic form using likert scale The data was analyzed through SPSS 20 The results of this research were unhide base on answering the research questions

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Research Background

Since the introduction of 1st IPhone generation, the consumer has inherited a rapid innovation by smartphone manufacturers Nowadays, smartphone is considered as a must-have stuff by most urban persons Thanks to its fabulous features, smartphone users may experience things out of communicating: browsing webs, enjoying medias, playing games, checking emails, using as a navigator, participating in social sites and

so on (Qiang Xu, 2011) In the other hands, smartphone is also named as an "indicator

of status, prestige and lifestyle" (Mohd Azam Osman, 2012) That leads to a trend of switching from feature phone to smartphone

It is a normal sense to see one working at office using a smartphone checking their emails, reading feeds on their Facebook From a C.E.O to an apprentice, they all maintain a regularly online status throughout a day with office Wifi or broadband cell signal A recent survey conducted by Google an Ipsos Media CT in Vietnam (2013) indicated that: 70 percent of interviewees using their smartphone daily in past seven days, while 91 percent of them use their smartphone at works, meanwhile, 58 percent spent more time online with their smartphone in the last 6 months (Google – Our mobile planet: Vietnam, quarter 3, 2013) Hence, smartphone is transforming the consumer behaviors

Nevertheless, a huge number of manufacturers in the smartphone industry, creates plenty of models, lead to an embarrassment of consumer while choosing a smartphone This generates a hard task for one manufacturer to persuade their potential customers distinguishing between its products and others Therefore, it is essential to know what factors influencing the Purchase Intention of smartphone

1.2 Research Problems

Recent market research by Google has indicated that there are about 17 million Vietnamese had been using smartphone (GlobalWebIndex, 2013) The figure is counted as approximately 20% of Vietnam population In this emerging market, there

is still lot of potential for mega smartphone manufacturers as Samsung, LG, and Apple as well as Chinese or Vietnamese ones Especially, in the group of office workers, who are in the raising of income and spend on hi-tech products frequently According to Gartner (2013), trend of using smartphone and tablet to improve productivity as well as to provide more entertainments might be required by half of office workers in 2017

Despite the dramatic increasing of smartphone sales in Vietnam, there are not many researches on the consumer's perception of purchasing smartphone, and there are no static evidences to provide a better understanding between the enterprises and the end-users Purchase Intention Thus, it is an essential for the the manufacturer/distributor/retailer to know what factors affecting to the consumer's Purchase Intention of smartphone, particularly, to the office workers Since then, they might be benefited by understanding their potential perceptions

As the above reasons, I have chosen the topic:

EXPLORING THE FACTORS AFFECTING PURCHASE INTENTION OF SMARTPHONE: A STUDY OF OFFICE WORKERS IN HOCHIMINH CITY,

VIETNAM The study is to clarify the factors affecting the office workers Purchase Intention, and then choose the right strategy for the real enterprises to approach the consumer in

terms of boosting their sales volume Furthermore, the hi-tech topics are also my favorite

1.3 Research Questions

Regarding to the research problems above, question has been raised for the research

as below:

 Which factors will affect the consumer's Purchase Intention of smartphone?

 Which factor will most influence the consumer‟s Purchase Intention of smartphone?

1.4 Research Objectives

At first, the research is aimed to identify the factors affecting to the office worker's Purchase Intention of smartphone in Hochiminh City To be more detailed, the research is to manage these tasks:

 To build a conceptual model for the research base on the previous researches and literatures

 To explore the factors affect the Purchase Intention of smartphone

 To gather information and analyze the results, as well as, to give recommendation to rate consumer's intention

1.5 Research scope and limitation

This research only apply to office workers to find out their Purchase Intention of smartphone Furthermore, the research only aims to ones who live in Hochiminh City,

as this is one of the two biggest city in Vietnam with high rate of smartphone users Moreover, there are plenty of enterprises operating in the city at the current

However, this means that the data does not present the whole pictures of Vietnamese consumers In the other hand, the small size of sample might not be large enough due

to lack of resources

1.6 Significant of the Research

One of the most important purpose of this study is to provide a deeper insight of consumers in terms of factor affecting on Purchase Intention of smartphone Since then, smartphone manufacturer as Samsung, Nokia and Sony might obtain proper information about their consumer‟s requirement for a smartphone‟s design, feature, price settings and so on Taking advantages of those knowledge, firms might have better strategies planning to adjust their products in order to fulfill what an office worker might want from their smartphone

Firms also might concern on social influence on the consumers, which can be solved

at the end of this research From the results, more appropriate marketing tactics might

be used as to persuade the consumers in terms of their social relation‟s affection

Finally, results of this thesis might be a reference for further research on the same topic, especially to researchers who might want to explore those issues in a larger scope or with different samples

1.7 Research Methodology

Literature reviews are performed at first, based on these precious theories, conceptual model would be made Quantitative research method would be applied to design questionnaire implementing in convenient sampling method Data would be gathered and analyzed with SPSS for further static findings Since then, conclusions and recommendations would be conducted

1.8 Structure of Research

The research consist of five following chapters:

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter Three: Research Methodology

1.8.3

The Chapter clarify the way to conduct the research and statistical method to be used

in the thesis, as well as providing the research process, questionnaire designing, sampling method, survey implementation as a foundation for statistical analyzing

Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Findings

1.8.4

This chapter goes on details with figures and numbers recorded by previous steps, which offers interviewees profile, analyzing the raw materials inputted throughout Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS), since then, further discuss of the research might be given

Chapter Five: Conclusion

1.8.5

Base on the above steps, the author provide conclusion according to his personal side for the final results, furthermore, present the recommendations for future researches

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Critical points of current knowledge will be presented in this chapter The purpose is

to provide substantive findings as well as theoretical and methodological which to contribute to the topic research process Meanwhile, the literature reviews are also considered as prestige secondary sources, which do not present any new research information

of a customer on that lead to a purchasing action, which can be understand that the stronger the Purchase Intention is, the higher possibility to purchase particular product

or service occur (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2000) Through a process of consumer behavior toward buying a product or a service, the consumer‟s purchasing intention might formed by recognition, information seeking, alternative products evaluating, purchasing behavior and post-purchase step of mind (Schiffman & Kanuk, 2000) The Purchase Intention should also be considered as consumers‟ tendency on an object, often measures the intention to buy of consumers (Kim & Kim, 2004) Final cognitive step in decision making process is also the intention to purchase towards particular products or services, according to Han (1990), Pecotich, Pressley and Roth (1996) Furthermore, it is also a favorable topic in the marketers‟ side as its ability to

dig more consumers‟ insight, since then, they can find appropriate segmentation before deciding to launch a new product into any markets (Silk & Urban, 1978) Kumar (2000) also indicated that, Purchase Intention can be used to predict future demand Finally, there are evidence about an relationship between the relative advantage, price, social influence and product compatibility with Purchase Intention (Juha, 2008;Yue & Suart J, 2011; Ima Ilyani Ibrahim, 2013) There are also positive relations between brand name and Product Features and Purchase Intention (Mei Min and Chow, 2012)

Aaker (1991) stated that the image of a brand is mainly established by the price, in the consumer‟s side, the behavioral intentions are affected from the price positively

In other words, a high (or low) price presents a high (or low) quality or image Likewise, two type of products by price has been provided: high-priced brands and low-priced brands (Kunal et al., 2010) Image are indicated as the key factor of high-priced brands Similarly, people tend to consume high-priced brand products due to their image and adapt for a premium price in order to perceive their value and status, which make the consumers price-inelastic (Bolton, 1989) Meanwhile, low-priced brands are chosen to utilize their value, often by consumers who tend to choose

products in terms of price par value Thus, consumers would chose a low-priced brand product or looking for and subtitled one for the best value (Kunal et al., 2010)

As a result, Rao and Monroe (1988) indicated that consumers have a tension to separate the higher price with higher quality and the lower price with inferior quality Etgar and Malhotra‟s (1981) found consensus to claim that high price goods and services are equals to high quality in most of consumers‟ perception Therefore, if the quality or features are comply to the consumers‟ expectation, they should accept a price level at peak to fulfill their demand; the consumers might consider the price at a fair deal and willing to pay at a higher price if they could be deserved by what quality and service they expect (Monroe, 2003)

More than dozen of mobile brands could be found in today‟s market, with plenty of series, which offer different price levels On the website of thegioididong.com, the largest mobile phones retailer in Vietnam, consumer may find 14 various brands of smartphone, this leads to wide range of price for each segment of products The strong brand may be an advantage to encourage the consumer choosing one product Nowadays, people sometimes does not consider price at the most important element There is a trend of consumers who might be willing to pay high price for their smartphone and receive a higher quality or services There is about 38.81% Vietnamese consumers who ever own a smartphone believe that Iphone, a luxury product, is the best smartphone they ever wanted (Jana, 2014 – Smartphone preference and spending) According to the research, Vietnamese consumers also acquire more on quality and higher level of services

Brand

2.2.2

In a world of massive production, brand presents as a special characteristic for a product or service It could be considered as a valuable asset to stand for quality and suggest precise information about the brand (Srinivasan, 2002) It was also distinguished as to improve product‟s value (Dodds, Monroe and Grewal, 1991) Brand was also stated to indicate a product by its name (Rotfled, 2009) The American Marketing Association define brand as “name, term, symbol, or design, or

a combination of them intended to identify the goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition”

The main function of a brand name is to confirm a product‟s quality (Rao and Ruekert, 1994) Farquhar (1989) define the value of a brand was brand equity And it was proven that an important phase of building brand is developing brand equity (Keller, 1998) Lastly, the consumer‟s evaluation was influenced by the product‟s brand, which might lead to the buying decision (Khasawneh and Hasouneh, 2010) After the survey in United States, England and Australian, The Wall Street Journal announced that the smartphone owners show the power of brand loyalty It was also found the positive influence of consumer satisfaction on building positive brand, which lead to Purchase Intention respectively (Zahra Seyed Ghorban, 2012) Chia and Hao (2013) found that the myth impression of the specific brand existed prior to the decision to buy the product As a result, the amount of sales of smartphone mostly depends on the brand itself

Compatibility

2.2.3

When consumer perceives a product or service in their personal lifestyle choices, we

might match with a product and service, we approve that they are highly compatible (Joep W, Ruud T and Tammo H, 2011) It is believed that demand and Purchase Intention of consumers is significantly affected by the compatibility (Gatignon and Robertson, 1991) While product compatible is put at a high priority, consumers‟ ideal and expectation is getting closer to a product Since then, more profit could be generated due to a raise in demand, which has been affected by satisfying the consumers before

Product Features

2.2.4

When buying or consuming a product, the consumers may be satisfy with a product‟s attribute, which might be a connection with their needs or demand, this attribute is called a feature (Kotler, 2007) There is no doubt that various features might offer different perception towards smartphone Nowadays, Smartphone is considered to be stand for a sustainable connection with internet, surfing the web, useful software, ability to manage files, recording photos and videos, entertainment tools, bulky memory of storage, GPS, navigation and large screen with high density of display (Oulasvirta, 2011) Gowind (2010) also stated that operation system and camera were two of the most favorite features consumers required from a smartphone Meanwhile, iOS, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry OS are the most concerned operating systems Nevertheless, it is hoped to recognize that each of them has its own characteristics and foundation (Chang and Chen, 2005)

It is also stated that products are chosen by their specific benefits created from attributes, which might be usable to personal value (Wickliffe and Psyarchik, 2011)

At the current, mobile applications are introduced everyday, help the consumers to maximize the usable time from smartphone This leads to a fact that smartphone buyers put functionality over the other factors when choosing smartphone (Kantar

Media, 2014 - The smartphone purchase experience, p.5) On the other hand, marketers trend to use the attributes that the consumers tend to compare between brands to advertisement, this aim to influence the consumers in choosing the appropriate product by enhancing the attribute‟s message (Puth, 1999)

Relative Advantage

2.2.5

The degree for an innovation to be perceived as a higher level than other products in the market is considered as relative advantage (Tidd, 2010) Moreover, product with innovation placed in a long distance with the behind ones might gain a higher relative advantage degree, this might be resulted in a lower price but higher eases of use, enhanced Product Features and increased the product‟s adoption are (L.Kurtz, H.F.MacKenzie, & Snow, 2009) The relative advantage‟s component can be reflect

in economic issues including: social status, convenience, economic gains and low cost Relative advantage from an innovation can achieve better acceptability and diffusion speed (Ho and Wu, 2011) Roach (2009) stated that relative advantage was one of the most consistent predictors of innovation adoption

It also has been considered that relative advantage was in connection with the benefits has been made by using new technology comparing to the cost This means that the consumers will experience low economic advantage in term of choosing a very expensive product comparing to the competitors (Sypher, 1997) In the smartphone market‟s perspective, relative advantage might be seen as the perception of the consumers to be favor with one advertising message in comparison with the others (Roach, 2009)

Social Influences

2.2.6

There are researches to confirm the relationship between virtual communities, an important sources of social influences, with Purchase Intention (Bickart & Schindler, 2001) It is noted that persons‟ choice, behaviors and belief may affect to others, this theory can be found in most social sciences People try to understand, relate to others and be themselves; hence, influence motives appear with one person might change their perception of an issue, product or brand Up to date, the most important motive has been researched is the expectation of one person to keep their value reference aligned with his or her groups, as well as to be differentiated from devalued ones (Asch, 1951)

Raising in trend of using SNS (Social network sites) as Facebook, Instagram has been found in smartphone recently GlobalWebIndex (2014) announced that up to 20 percent of Vietnamese use their social accounts on smartphone, especially, Facebook gained the largest population of 95% of smartphone users It is a nature that smartphone users find more convenient in keeping relation with their friends, colleagues and families in social network sites Since then, user is probably affected

by their friends, colleagues and families somehow in their decision of buying a product or service A person can be gratefully influenced by the social, particularly when they are in a community with same thought, attitude, feeling or behavior (Rashotte, 2007)

2.3 Review of relevant theory

Diffusion of innovations

2.3.1

A new product might be adopted by consumer in particular culture structure, this lively illustrate the theory of diffusion of innovations Consumer is to adopt or not

adopt to a new product affected by four different stages: knowledge, persuasion, decision and confirmation (Rogers E., 1995; Fliegel, Frederick, & Joseph, 1966) There are factors might affect the consumer adoption of new product in the stage of persuasion They could be defined as perceived characteristics of innovations or product characteristics including: relative advantage, trial ability, compatibility, complexity, and so on Communication sources also might influence them (Rogers E., 1995; Assael, 1992; Gatignon & Robertson, A propositional inventory for new diffusion research, 1985) Lastly, those factors will affect Purchase Intention, which is considered as the willingness to purchase one product, alongside with ability to purchase this product form a demand (Rogers E., 1995; Fliegel, Frederick, & Joseph, 1966)

Figure 1 - Diffusion of innovations model Rogers, E.M (1995)

Social Identity Theory

2.3.2

Social identity express the idea that persons from a particular social group need to match with the conditions of those group in order to avoid of discrimination Furthermore, those persons in group self-categorize themselves in the ways conform

to their group norms or do things to gain the group‟s favor (Tajfel and Turner, 1979) Individual think, feel and action to his personal, family and so on might be affected by different social contexts, according to the social identity theory (Turner, 1982; Jane and Peter, 2000)

In the context of smartphone, if most persons in a particular group adopted the smartphone, the rest who not yet adopt might be considering of an adaptation Those thoughts comes from an intention to be categorized into this group and being a part of them (Jane & Peter, 2008)

Theory of Materialism

2.3.3

People are affected by materialism in their lives, they gain happiness in the possession

of particular luxury product, and hence they trend to persuade them different ways Materialistic persons are matched with desires and goals to achieve wealth, so that they could own certain luxury products in order to take the senses of social recognition (Tim, 2002; Yusuf & Abdullah, 2003)

According to Vitzthum (1995) and Lange (1925), consumers might experience high value on luxury product, this include new technology as well as innovative product, as those products are always at a higher price, and those situations define the theory of materialism To be detail, high price product like smartphone might influence the consumer‟s Purchase Intention, however, it is a normal sense if the purchasing power

in general increases, opening chances for more people to own ones, then the social

status of using smartphone might no longer be available (Jee Han, Joseph, & Xavier, 2010)

2.4 Proposed Theoretical Framework

Ima Ilyani Ibrahim (2013) state on his study of Purchase Intention of smartphone in Malaysia once again stated that the mentioned issued significantly affected by social influence, even though the strength differ It is also the factor hast most impact beside the others are: Relative Advantage, Price and Compatibility In connection with the literature review above, it is proposed to the conceptual framework in which display the independent and dependent variables and connection between them as below:

Figure 2 - Conceptual model: Factors affect Purchase Intention of smartphone

Influence, and Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh

City With this goal, we propose to test the following hypotheses:

H1: There is an impact from Price towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

H2: There is an impact from Brand Name towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

H3: There is an impact from Compatibility towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

H4: There is an impact from Product Features towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

H5: There is an impact from Relative Advantage towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

H6: There is an impact from Social Influences towards Purchase Intention of Smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research design

As a descriptive research, this thesis may present the researchers‟ intention to use quantitative data to illustrate the characteristics of the population, as well as to study the phenomenon Advantage of this type of research is to collect unique data from case studies Data was collected to provide an insight from consumers in various aspects of their lives, which other methods can not apply better (Swindells, 2004) Moreover, the method could provide an ability to finalize the result and approve or disapprove hypothesises

At last, questionnaire was considered as an instrumental to imply in the research Group of categorized questions would be provided to collect primary data It is fast, inexpensive, efficient, and effective method compared to others (Key & P., 1997)

3.2 Data collection methods

In general, the two types of data could be defined as primary data and secondary data While the primary data is usually collected throughout research and surveys to solve specific purposes, the secondary data is considered as existing information Both of the two mentioned types are used in researches frequently to offer more reliability as well as validaty

Primary data

3.2.1

Quantitative research was applied in the research to determine the hypothesis In particular, questionnaire was used to gather information by their wide range of questions from individuals In the other hands, questionnaire could be used with different type of sampling techniques, which can be easily administered via email, telephone, face to face interview, internet electrical form and so on The questionnaire was provided into different sections, which covered all the required information for

the hypothesis, as well as the demographics from the interviewees for further exploration

Secondary data

3.2.2

Literally, information analysis gathered from other sources (e.g., researcher and institutions) is considered as secondary data (Cnossen & Christen, 1977) Two type of secondary data could be known as electronic based sources and paper based sources Secondary data is also known as an efficient yet economic sources In the limitation

of the research, electronic based sources are more preferable due to its ease of searching and convenience Throughout internet, the researchers acquire more knowledge on the thesis topic, as well as understanding relevant theories, which helping in further step of researching

Sampling design

3.2.3

A process of selecting a smaller group of people with similar characteristics and preferences as the total group where it is chosen is call sampling (Wrenn, Stevens, & Loudon, 2006) To collect data effectively and efficiently, designing a sampling framework is important to any researcher Furthermore, selecting most appropriate samples means to provide more accurate answer while collecting the questionnaire

3.2.3.1 Sampling frame and sampling location

The data was gathered by an electronic survey provided by Qualtrics®, a leading quantitative research solutions has been used in the industry as well as cited in academic journals Brunson, K W (2008) and books (Modern marketing research concepts, 2012) Qualtrics® is known as other online survey tools as Google or Surveymonkey, otherwise, it provide tons of features more

After the questionnaire has been formed, it was sent to respondent by two ways:

 Emails: An email with provided link to the questionnaire was attached to invite the receiver finished answering the questions An disadvantage of this method is the mistaken of email providers to categorize this email as junk mails sometimes, in the other hands, receivers might have negative perception

on this type of email which might let them biased on the answers However, it

is the cheapest and most convenient way In this survey, 200 email invitations have been sent to collect data

 Social sites seeding: Facebook was used as a gentle invitation to conduct the survey In connection with a post of Facebook, which content is to introduce the research, it was appeared to all new feeds of the target population as a recommend topic A reach of approximately 3,000 viewers has been taken to collect data

Sampling Technique

3.2.4

Convenience sampling was applied in the research As a non-probability sampling technique, convenience sampling is to obtain a sample of convenient elements Its advantage include relatively easy sample collection and data collection (Anderson, Sweeney, & Williams, 2008) In the other hands, the technique requires least expensive and time consuming In the limitation of the research, the researcher distributed the questionnaire to ones who were working in an office in the area of Hochiminh City

3.2.4.1 Sampling size

According to Malhotra (1996) sample size refers to the number of elements to be included A quantity of 257 questionnaires have been finished during six days from

August 7th to August 14th However, 39 results has been rejected due to unfinished questionnaire and duplicated results (like all answers are 4 are 5 only) At last, a number of 218 samples has been used to the data analyzing

Research instrument

3.2.5

Used instrument would be explained in this part of the research While a survey has been chosen, it would be included the distributing of questionnaire to collect primary data

3.2.5.1 Questionnaire

Questionnaire is defined as a set of questioned that prepared by the researchers to collect answers from the respondents (Sekaran & Bougie, 2010) On this research, questionnaires has been used to gather the information from the respondent to discover the factors that influence the Purchase Intention of smartphone among the office workers in Hochiminh City Since then, the research analyze if there are any significant relationship between the dependent and independent variables Questionnaire has been collected in one week as 257 respondents feedback their answers

3.2.5.2 Questionnaire design

To obtain information effectively, the process of designing questionnaires play an important role In this research, the researcher has used fixed-alternative questions, which responses are given and answers are chosen as one closet to the respondent‟s point of view The whole questionnaire is divided into the three section to easily categorize the data as below:

Section C

The five questions of this section are provided to survey for the dependent variable: the Purchase Intention Once again, likert scale questions with five scales of strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neutral (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5) are used

Price

P1 Price is my main consideration

when deciding whether to buy a smartphone

Cheong and Park (2005), Grewal, Krishanan, Baker, & Borin, (1998), Sinhaa

& Batrab (1999),

Steiner (2004)

P2 I will only buy smartphone on

price reduction or promotion

P3 I compare prices of other

Smartphone„s brands and store brands before I choose one

P4 I buy Smartphone because they

are worth to used regarding between with their price & usage

quality

P5 The cheapness of some

Smartphone„s brand suggests to

me that they may have some risks, such as low quality

Brand

BR1 Brand name is a major factor that

will influence my decision towards buying a smartphone

Rio,Vazquez and Iglesias (2001)

BR2 I prefer to choose globally brand

while buying smartphone

BR3 I prefer to choose a trustworthy

smartphone brand

BR4 I only choose smartphone brand

of my favourite BR5 I am willing to choose a less well-

known brand if its products could fulfill my needs

Compatibility

C1 Smarphone is compatible and fit

my needs

Yang (2005), Brown L., Cajee, Davies and Stroebel (2003), Monk, Hassenzahl, Blythe and Reed (2002), He, Duan, Fu and Li (2006)

C2 Smartphone is compatible and fit

my lifestyle and working style C3 Smartphone fit with my habits of

using cell phones C4 Smartphone is a good

complement to the traditional mobile phones to me

C5 Smartphone can fulfill my wants

and needs in current life

Product

Features

FE1 I like the smartphone ability of

taking photos and videos

Mei Min, et al (2012), Market Analysis and FE2 Smartphone provide high quality

FE3 Smartphone has lots of useful

applications

Research Organization (MACRO) FE4 Smartphone can connect to

internet easily (with wifi, 3G) FE5 I choose smartphone due to its

operating system (iOS, Android, Blackberry OS, Windows Phone…)

Relative

Advantage

RA1 Smartphone are more convenient,

reliable, and useful than normal mobile phones

(Brown I , Cajee, Davies, & Stroebel, (2003), Holak & Lehmann (1990), Yang (2005), Mei Min, et al (2012), Gourville (2006), Park, Y., & Chen J

V (2007), Ji-won Moon, Young-Gul Kim (2001)

RA2 Smartphone are more fashionable,

stylish, and trendy

RA3 Smartphone can be synchronized

with other gadgets RA4 Smartphone bigger screen and full

keyboard make different functions easier to use

RA5 Smartphone sometimes help me to

solve my work instantly

Social

Influence

SI1 Friends and family are very helpful

to me in making decision of buying smartphone

Isen (2011), Denise E (2005), Pederson, n.d, Mei Min et al (2012) SI2 I will ask the opinions from my

friends and family when buying a smartphone

SI3 Most of my friends and family

members are using smartphone SI4 Friends and family members

believe that smartphone are useful

to them SI5 I will seek for information from

social network and forums before buying a smartphone

Purchase

Intention

PI1 I will continue using smartphone Dalsang Chung, Sun

Gi Chun (2011); Kiwon Lee, Euiho Suh, Jihye Park (2012), Ling (2011), Hyuk Jun & Margaret

A (2008), Ching-Fu & Yu-Ying (2008)

PI2 I intend to buy a smartphone

PI3 I intend to replace my smartphone

with a better one

PI4 I will share about my smartphone

with my friend and family member PI5 I am willing recommend my

friend/family member to buy a smartphone

Table 1 - Coded items of measurement scale

3.3 Data analysis

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0 will be used to analyze collected data The section will present an overall view of various techniques to be used in the research for data analysis

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

3.3.3

It is necessary to examines if provided items are completed by respondent are included in particular factors or clusters, the technique of this process is called exploratory factor analysis (Cavana et al, 2001) While EFA allows us to eliminate invalid items from the scale, it also group the items into relevant group in accordance with the respondent‟s data Low factor loading item (< 0.5) were deleted

Pearson Correlation Coefficient Test

3.3.4

Pearson correlation coefficient is to measures the strength of the linear relationship of two variables In the other hand, it also confirm the significant and the strength of those relationships The strength of the relationship could be demonstrate as the table below:

Coefficient Range Strength of Association

± 0.21 to ±0.40 Small but definite relationship

± 0.00 to ±0.20 Slight, almost negligible

Table 2 - Rules of Thumb about Correlation Coefficient

Multiple regression analysis

3.3.5

The techniques of multiple regression is to analyse the impact of the factors that influence the Purchase Intention of smartphone among office workers in Hochiminh City Multiple regression analysis also form the independent variables into equation and forecast the dependent variable At last, multiple regression analysis will determine how the independent variables (Price, Brand, Compatibility, Product Features, Relative Advantage and Social Influence) are significant to explain the variance in confidence level

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYISIS AND FINDINGS

Demographic profile

4.1.2

Descriptive statistic was used to summary the profile of 218 surveys Results could be found in detail as the below table and figures:

Demographic Characteristics Frequency

(n)

Percentage (%)

From 8,000,000 to Less than 12,000,000 Vnd 72 33

From 12,000,000 to Less than 18,000,000 Vnd 29 13.3

From 18,000,000 to Less than 25,000,000 Vnd 13 6

Table 3 - Demographic of Respondents

Figure 3 - Sex of Respondents

The gender distribution in the research accidentally fall into an absolute balance between male and female respondent While 109 male respondents were recorded with a percentage of 50, the same number has also been found in female respondents This could be surprisingly consider that male and female both paid their intention to the smartphone topic

50%

Female