Pradeep Randiwela, Tharanga S. Widanachchi

2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference ISBN : 9780974211428
FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER BUYING MOTIVES;

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SRI LANKA TELECOM
BROADBAND AT MICRO LEVEL
Pradeep Randiwela
p_randiwela@yahoo.co.uk
University of Colombo-Sri Lanka
Tharanga S. Widanachchi
tharangasw@gmail.com
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Cambridge, UK
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ABSTRACT
Motives are the drives, impulses, wishes or desires that initiate the sequence of activities known
as behavior. Behind any purchasing action, there are several factors, which are playing an
influential role where that makes the customer to perform the task.
This study examines key influential factors that motivated and moves the customer
towards a purchase and determines the level of influence that each influential factor has
contributed to the scenario. Focusing on the set-up in depth, the research explores the factors
influencing customer buying motives, with special reference to Sri Lanka Telecom Broadband at
micro level. The main objective of this study is to assess the degree of influence generated by
influencing factors of customer buying motives. It is also intended to classify them based on their
gravity at buying decisions. This will provide an insight and help future marketing activities of
the company.
In-depth discussion with internal product development and marketing groups of the
company coupled with a comprehensive survey based on a questionnaire distributed among
sample of broadband users at micro business and residential level has been used as the dominant
research strategy. Results of the study reveals that “Emotional factor” is the dominant influential
factor among others, with 4.0229 mean value whilst, purchase orientated (3.5720), result
oriented (3.5500), profit or money oriented (3.2937) and experience oriented (2.9750) factors
respectively, has taken the remaining positions in the influential order. The research reveals that
the emotional factor should be given top most priority at each respective marketing attempt with
the required attention to other factors accordingly.
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INTRODUCTION
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides Telecommunication services to
residential, corporate, and business customers in Sri Lanka. It is diversified in to several areas
which include Fixed and wireless (CDMA) telephony, Broadband, IPTV, Mobile services,
Domestic and international leased circuits, Frame relay, ISDN, Satellite uplink, Maritime
transmission, Wi-Max services and Directory services. Currently it is the only service provider in
the country to offer telephone, Internet and television services via one connection.
SLT group has a customer base of over four million including multinational corporations,
large and small corporate, retail and domestic customers. Running with an annual turnover in
excess of Rs 40 billion the company is making an important milestone in the journey towards its’
vision of all Sri Lankans being seamlessly connected with world class information,
communication and entertainment services. Being the leading Telecommunication service
provider in Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Telecom launches its products to the local market gradually
targeting different market segments Island wide. Though the massive customer awareness
programs are coupled along with its products and services, the fixed line market faces intense
competition from the mobile service providers while experiencing low response for its traditional
core businesses.
Even though a massive customer awareness programs are carried out different stages such as:
pre-product launch, after commercialization and at the time of value added services are launched,
it is vital to understand the effectiveness of those programs and campaigns, given objectives of
such initiatives.
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Problem Identification
There are several causes which has encouraged this study such as:
a. Inability to obtain anticipated customer responses after investing on those programs.
b. Lack of understanding on forceful buying motives with regards to the companies’ sub
brands.
c. Gradual decline in the Broadband market share
Research Questions
Main intention of this research study is to seek out answers for following research questions.
What are the major factors that drives customer to purchase the Broadband product?
What degrees of influence are made by these factors?
Research Objectives
 to assess the variability of influence generated through influencing factors of
customer buying motives with regards to the SLT Broadband and,

 to classify them considering most influence to least forceful.
Conceptual Framework
There are several competitive classifications on buying motives applied by experts in the arena
of marketing, in identifying the level of influence generated by the identified influential factors
of customer buying motives. Among those, the classification of Gitomer, J has been selected as
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the most spirited categorization of customer buying motives in order to carry out the study in the
most fruitful manner. Figure 1.1, depicts the conceptual framework used in this study.
Figure 1.1: Factors Influencing Customer Buying Motives
Factors
Influencing
Customer
Buying
Motives
Source: Gitomer J. , 2004, Inside Tuscon Business, Vol. 13 Issue 52, p10-10
Structure of the Study
This paper consists five parts: the first section includes background to the study, problem
identification, research questions and research objectives, and conceptual framework. The second
part deals with review of literature and evolving concepts. The third section, of the study
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explains the methods of data collection along with the sampling techniques and statistical data
analysis employed. The final part of this paper includes the analysis of data, findings, conclusion
and recommendations.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Analyzing customer buying motives has identified as a cornerstone of a successful marketing
strategy. The factors which precipitate the buyer's motives and guide their final selection of the
product can be perceived as best satisfying their purchasing need. While the perception of the
buyer will mediate the information used and the interpretation put on it, all purchase decisions
incorporate a mix of price, Technological, performance, personal and emotional factors. While
one motive may dominate others, the availability of choice in the market place means that buyers
will often be faced with two or more acceptable solutions to their purchase need, and so may
appear to behave 'irrationally' in making their final selection. Therefore identifying and
understanding the factors influencing the customer buying motives is a key concern in the
development of effective marketing strategies.
A motive is an internal energizing force that directs persons’ activities towards satisfying
needs or achieving goals. Buyers’ actions are affected by a set of motives rather than by just one
motive. Motives also affect the direction and intensity of behaviour, Pride and Ferrel, (2010).
Furthermore, motives can be explained as drives, impulses, wishes or desires that initiate the
sequence of activities known as behaviour, Udell, (2001)
According to Udell, (2001), the importance of customer buying motives in the marketing
success of a product was emphasized forty years ago in the pioneering work of researcher
Melvin T. Copeland. In an attempt to present a classification of motives useful to business
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management, Copeland proposed separating them into two categories, rational and emotional:
These motives have their origin in human instincts and emotions and represent impulse or
unreasoning promptings to action. By going through the classifications of Copeland and other
experts in the subject matter, Udell, (2001), has introduced a new classification of buying
motives by dividing them in to two extremes, those which are operational and those which are
sociopsychological. He further explains that the operational buying motives as those reasons for
the purchase that are directly related to the anticipated performance of the product and
sociopsychological motives as reasons for the purchase that are indirectly related to the
anticipated performance of the product and directly related to the consumers social and
psychological interpretation of the product.
Evolving Concepts
Consumers make many buying decisions every day. Most large companies conduct researches on
consumer buying decisions in great detail to answer questions about; what consumers buy? ,
where they buy? , how and how much they buy? , when they buy? and why they buy?. Though
the questions are set and straight forward, learning about the whys of consumer buying
behaviour is not as easy as the answers are often locked deep within the consumers mind. In
some cases the customers themselves are not aware of what exactly influence their purchases.
There the buying decisions are made at unconscious level which shows the vitality of a depth
understanding prior to next step, Kotler and Armstrong, (2008).
According to Kotler and Armstrong, (2008), customer purchases are influenced strongly
by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics. The cultural factor exerts broad
and deep influence on consumer behavior. The marketer needs to understand the role played by
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the buyers’ culture, sub culture and the social class. Social factors are being sub grouped as small
groups, family and social roles and status. A buyers’ decision also influenced by personal
characteristics such as age, life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation, life style, personality
and self concept. Psychological factors including motivation, perception, learning, beliefs and
attitudes are also should be taken as key concerns.
According to Gitomer, (2004), “people don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy”. He
argues that the least powerful way of completing a transaction is teaching sales people on how to
sell, and by knowing or without knowing it has been practiced for the last 120 years. As per his
classification, customer buying motives consists of; (a) Purchase – Oriented, (b) Emotional -
Oriented, (c) Experience - Oriented, (d) Profit or Money – Oriented and (e) Result – Oriented
factors.
It is an undeniable rule that on the surface seems relatively simplistic, but when digging
deeper, the complexity lies in uncovering the motive of why people buy. Uncovering buying
motives goes against the strategy of “selling.” Selling implies informing the prospect of who you
are, how great you are, what your product is, what your product does, and a myriad of features
and benefits that most buyers are completely aware of. Uncovering buying motives is harder to
do and requires a lot more work on the part of the salesperson, but if done properly will both
double the sales and eliminate competitors. The fundamental principle is uncovering the
prospects “why.” Why do they want this? Why do they need this? Why is it important that they
buy it now? And assorted other emotional questions that create what is known as buyer urgency.
Once the reasons for purchase decision has been understood carefully, then are able to match
those motives with value, believability and trust, Gitomer, (2004). He further explains the
reasons for purchase decision such as: history, past experiences, expertise, wisdom, need, want,
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desire to solve or resolve, desire to recover, desire to change, desire to own, desire to win,
passion, fear, greed, vanity, desire to impress, peace of mind, and desired outcome. People
buy for their reasons, not the sellers. If that understanding is there, then their urgency to buy is
become the sellers reality. Regardless of the prospect’s desire and motive to buy, reasons for
selling should match the customer’s reasons for buying, in other words, motives, with regards to
any successful marketing attempt.
Along the process, Gitomer (2004), introduces a challenging way to perceive this
comprehensive process. He comes with a concept that not to think of it as just a “motive”, but to
think of it as “money.” Find the motive means find the money or at least the path that will leads
to the desired destination. For the customer, its’ not what the seller want or need. Its’ what the
customer feels safe buying and when he feels that it is the best time to buy. There is no any
answer for urgency, especially when the sales person needs the sale but the customer is hesitating
for no apparent reason. Its’ their motive, emotion and logical justification balanced with their
tolerance for risk.
RESEARCH METHOD
Primary data collection method has been used in this study. An in-depth discussion carried out
with the SLT internal product development and marketing groups as well as a comprehensive
survey was carried out based on the targeted customer segments in the country. As SLT holds a
massive customer base Island wide as well as the company provides a range of products and
services it has been decided to narrow down the research to a single product that is SLT
Broadband. A broad discussion was carried out with the SLT internal staff in order to identify the
set internal considerations and assessments on customer behaviour and buying motives in the
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target market. The understanding gained from the above mentioned discussions and the
parameter illustrated in the Figure 1.1, were used to develop the questionnaire for the survey.
Sample Selection
As SLT targets a huge broadband market, the most convenient and productive method of
sampling is non-probability sampling. Hence, the sampling method used for this research is
purposive sampling. Mainly sampling is been focused on micro level business customers along
with the residential customers in professional and none-professional categories, where there is a
huge competitive and potential market exists in all over the country. Though the business
customer segment consist of “very large”, “large”, “medium”, “small” and “micro” categories it
has been decided to narrow down the sample to the “micro” level business customers as other
customer segments are very well looked after by an appointed marketing manager. Therefore the
impact of awareness campaigns to those higher levels is lesser, compared with the “micro”
business segment. And also the impact of “micro” level business customers to the business
environment and position is considerably higher where the respective segment size is
comparably huge.
The respective sample has been selected by covering different areas in Colombo
district, so the sample represents different views and believes where it will be a plus point in
evaluating the final results of the research. When working on a highly competitive situation as
current, it is a crucial factor to find out the most to least influential factors with regards to the
customer buying motives prior reaching the targeted customer segments in a more effective
manner.
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For gathering the customer information the SLT directory was the selected resource of
data. While selecting the sample, judgmental sampling has also been merged into the purposive
sampling method where necessary. From the areas which were covered by the broadband
product, the targeted segments have been selected as it contains different interest groups.
Business customer (Micro level) and residential customer (Professional / None Professional)
segments were considered as major two categories. Among the broadband coverage areas, the
above mentioned sample has been drawn out purposively where it consists of it consists of 50
heads from business customers and 50 heads from residential customers.
An internal discussion carried out with heads of product planning and marketing units at
Sri Lanka Telecom this ensured a considerably accurate representation of internal views towards
the factors influencing customer buying motives with special reference to SLT Broadband at
micro level.
Data Analysis
Te qualitative approach has been dominant tool used with a practical classification considering
most to least force and also which is applicable to the real time environment. Therefore, each and
every measurement variable has been evaluated through five point lickert scale system (1 to 5,
where 5 = “Strongly positive position” and 1 = “Strongly negative position) along with in depth
analysis using mean, standard deviation, one-way ANOVA test and Tukey test. When there are
more than two groups for the analysis, the most appropriate way to do the analysis is to use a
one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to evaluate whether there is any evidence that the means
of the populations differ, which will lead further to investigate that which of the means represent
the difference, Crichton (1990).
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Tukey's multiple comparison test is one of several tests that can be used to determine
which means amongst a set of means differ from the rest. The test compares the difference
between each pair of means with appropriate adjustment for the multiple testing. The results are
presented as a matrix showing the result for each pair, either as a P-value or as a confidence
interval. These respective tests, assumes that the data from the different groups come from
populations where the observations have a normal distribution and the standard deviation is the
same for each group, Crichton, (1990). The study also covers a comprehensive percentage
analysis on identified key areas under each factor to elaborate the scenario in a very much
descriptive manner.
DISCUSSION
This section reveals the variability of influence generated through influencing factors of
customer buying motives with regards to the SLT Broadband with the views of the participants
of the conducted survey. During the analysis, the outcomes of the questionnaire (Refer Appendix
A: Questionnaire) is being analyzed with the aid of statistical methodologies tables and graphs,
in finding out the most appropriate and reliable answers for the research questions identified.
Descriptive Analysis
In order to identify the situation more clearly, the total research questionnaire (Refer Appendix A:
Questionnaire) will be evaluated using five measurement variables (Influential factors) identified.
The depth analysis on the respective variables and identifying the positive and negative
relationships among those will lead to discover the most reliable classification of factors
considering most to least force, which is more practical indeed.

Profit or Money - Oriented Factor
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A set of straight and hidden questions has been prepared to identify the influence generated via
profit or money oriented factor and have been surveyed among the targeted customer sample of
hundred heads. While examining the results found out for each of the question raised for this
respective measurement variable, profit or money - oriented factor, it can be clearly seen that the
profit or money - oriented factor has a comparably lesser effect towards the customer buying
motives. Here for all the questions provided under this category, the mean responses floating
around the lickert scale value “Three”. This depicts that people are somewhat neutral on this
respective category compared with the other factors. And also when analyzing the standard
deviation, it shows that the answers given by the selected sample was very much similar as
almost all the observations are being clustered around the mean, although they represent different
customer groups. Below table depicts the above discussed scenario.
Table 4.1: Analysis on Profit or Money Oriented Factor

Question Mean Standard Deviation
Broadband price range matches to the ability of expense 3.300 1.040
Service bought is worth for the money 3.270 1.053
Way of grading the Broadband package which is using at the moment 3.440 1.057
Ever think of upgrading the existing package for a better package 2.680 1.180
“Price of the product is a limiting factor for you to go for an upgrade” 3.7700 0.9729
Willingness to pay any amount for the Broadband package, if it is worth for
3.370 1.331
money and if it makes your tasks easy
Dependability of the Broadband package bought, for day today activities

3.2000 0.9101
without any hesitation of malfunctioning
Broadband product makes life easy and saved time 3.320 1.205
The majority of the responses (63.9%) are for values “Three” and “Four” and when summing up,
the outcome tends to move towards the neutral side.
Figure 4.1: Analysis on Profit or Money Oriented Factor

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Purchase - Oriented Factor
A set of questions has been prepared to identify the level of influence generated through the
purchase – oriented factor towards the customer buying motives. The following statistics shows
the results found out for each of the question raised for this respective measurement variable.
Table 4.2: Analysis on Purchase Oriented Factor

Type of reason forced to buy a Broadband connection 4.080 1.134
Got the connection at correct time 3.6500 0.9468
How soon it was to make the decision to buy the product 3.6200 0.8620
Were there any influencers that pushed to purchase the Broadband

3.120 1.174
connection
Do the awareness campaigns, seasonal or special promotions have pushed

3.390 1.154
for the purchase
Here through the analysis it can be observed that the purchase oriented factor has a comparably
higher effect towards the customer buying motives. Here for all the questions provided under this
category, the mean response floating around the lickert scale values “Three” and “Four”. This
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depicts that people are somewhat positive on this respective category compared with the other
factors. Further the standard deviations under this respective category are also comparably low
and almost all the observations are being clustered around the mean. This shows that the answers
given by the selected sample was very much similar with different customer representation.
The below graph depicts the above explained scenario in a very much descriptive manner.
The majority of the responses are for values “Four” and “Three” and when summing up, the
outcome tends to move towards the positive side.
Figure4. 2: Analysis on Purchase Oriented Factor
Emotional - Oriented Factor
The conducted survey has analyzed the influence generated via the emotional - oriented factor
also in order to identify the factors influencing customer buying motives, in a way that leads to
come up with a reliable classification. The following statistics shows the results found out for
each of the question raised for this respective measurement variable.
Through the analysis it can be observed very clearly that the emotional oriented factor has
the comparably highest effect towards the customer buying motives. Here for all the questions
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provided under this category, the mean responses floating around the lickert scale value “Four”
in a tight way (Refer: Table 4.3). This depicts that people are almost positive on this respective
category compared with the other factors. Further the standard deviations under this respective
category are also very much low and almost all the observations are being clustered around the
mean in a strong manner. This shows that the answers given by the selected sample was very
much similar and they are highly aggressive on the emotional – oriented factor even with a
sample of different customer representation.
Table 4.3: Analysis on Emotional Oriented Factor

What motivates to make the purchase 4.180 1.175
What type of image that was in the mind about the Broadband product
4.0400 0.9312
before the purchase
Broadband Technology will provide a better learning experience 4.0400 0.8867
“It is a necessary requirement for everyone to have a Broadband

3.990 1.030
connection nearby”
Will it be a plus point for a person to have a Broadband connection to

4.2700 0.7086
meet the ever-changing demand in the market
Broadband product has changed the lifestyle to some extent 3.7900 0.9979
“Broadband has helped to build up the personality via opening the doors
3.8500 0.9143
to international level”
From the total responses 72.5% are for values “Four” and “Three” and when summing up, the
outcome tends to move towards the strongly positive side. The graph included underneath
elaborates the explained scenario.
Figure 4.3: Analysis on Emotional Oriented Factor
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Experience - Oriented Factor
experience – oriented factor towards the customer buying motives. The following statistics
shows the results found out for each of the question raised for this respective measurement
variable. The analysis reveals that the purchase oriented factor has a comparably lower effect
towards the customer buying motives. Here for all the questions provided under this category, the
mean responses floating around the lickert scale value “Two” and “Three”. This depicts that
people are somewhat negative on this respective category compared with the other factors. And
also when analyzing the standard deviation, it shows that the answers given by the selected
sample was very much similar as almost all the observations are being clustered around the mean
even with the representation of different customer groups.
Table 4.4: Analysis on Experience Oriented Factor

Relevant social class represent in the society 3.010 1.030
Does the Broadband product has awarded a brand-new experience 3.220 1.115
Does the family members uses the service regularly 3.050 1.290
Does the neighbors/friends/relatives are using the Broadband service 3.150 1.038
Does the neighbors/friends/relatives are having the better package of the 2.7800 0.8713
Broadband product
Does the family members has influenced to upgrade the product due to 2.390 1.230
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their individual requirements or due to social influence
Respond positively to the requests of the family members, regardless of 2.770 1.171
the money incurred for upgrades
“Broadband has become a cultural requirement of the modern society” 3.430 1.027
From the total responses 50.7% are for values “Two” and “Three” and when summing up,
the outcome tends to move towards the negative side. Below graph visualize the explained
scenario in a very much explanatory manner.
Figure 4.4: Analysis on Experience Oriented Factor
Result - Oriented Factor
result – oriented factor towards the customer buying motives. According to the statistical
findings the purchase result oriented factor has a comparably higher effect towards the customer
buying motives. Here for all the questions provided under this category, the mean responses
floating around the lickert scale value “Three” showing very much closer value range for value
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“Four”. This depicts that people are somewhat positive on this respective category compared
with the other factors. Further the standard deviations under this respective category are also
very much low and therefore it can be clearly stated that almost all the observations are being
clustered around the mean.
Table 4.5: Analysis on Result Oriented Factor

Satisfied with the after sales service provided by the company 3.2000 0.9640
Recommend the SLT Broadband product to some other party without any
3.310 1.116
hesitation
Ever feel like shifting from SLT fixed Broadband to Mobile Broadband 3.390 1.197
What makes the attachment to the product in any above situation 3.190 1.203
Trust the Sri Lanka Telecom as a company and trust the service they
3.8600 0.7250
provide
If, came to know that, there are some faults in the Broadband product,
3.7400 0.9059
will there be another chance to rectify them
If a new fixed Broadband player comes to the market with a set of

3.710 1.038
attractive packages, then what will be the reaction
Sri Lanka Telecom as a company 3.8900 0.8027
Sri Lanka Telecom Broadband as a product/service 3.6600 0.8901
Figure 4.5, further describes the scenario, where it makes clear that when summing up the
outcome, it tends to move towards the positive side.
Figure 4.5: Analysis on Result Oriented Factor
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SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The conducted survey was a successful attempt in finding out the factors influencing customer
buying motives with special reference to SLT Broadband at micro level. Through the response
obtained for the questionnaire (Refer Appendix A: Questionnaire), it has been observed the level
of influence generated through each factor along with a thorough understanding on related
background information in a very broad manner. Following depicts the summary of the data
analysis of the conducted research study. In order to identify the analysis in a very broad manner
the data has been organized in a way such that they represent the answers for the research
questions of the respective study.
When summing up the answers for the research question one for this respective study,
that is; what are the major influencing factors that move the customer to purchase the Broadband
product? What can be the best representation of factors, considering most to least influence? ; the
research itself directs the analysis towards below conclusions
Below graph depicts the summation of the results analyzed separately in the previous
chapter, when analyzing the five factors as a whole. There it shows clearly that the emotional -
oriented factor dominates the buying motives in a massive way where the purchase – oriented
factor follows the same by getting the second position in the influential flow. Result - oriented
factor, profit or money - oriented factor and the experience - oriented factor holds the next
immediate positions in the influential order respectively.
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Figure 5.1: Factors influencing customer buying motives – Classification summary
The above classification further supported by the below statistical representations.
Table 5.1: Descriptive Statistics

Variable Mean Standard Deviation
Profit or Money Oriented Factor 3.2937 1.1321
Purchase Oriented Factor 3.5720 1.1042
Emotional Oriented Factor 4.0229 0.9670
Experience Oriented Factor 2.9750 1.1395
Result Oriented Factor 3.5500 1.0251
According to the above statistics generated via a depth analysis using a five point lickert scale,
the study discloses the most influential factor as the “Emotional factor” with 4.0229 mean value.
Respectively, Purchase oriented (3.5720), Result oriented (3.5500), Profit or Money oriented
(3.2937) and Experience oriented (2.9750) factors has taken the remaining positions in the
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influential order. The research reveals that the Emotional factor should be given high priority at
each respective marketing attempt with the required attention to other factors accordingly.
In-order to establish the above findings in a more statistically reliable way the one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) test has been applied to the scenario. It allows in determining if
one identified factor, has a significant effect on customer buying motives across any of the other
factor under the study.
Table 5.2: One-way ANOVA test

One-way ANOVA: Response versus Factor
Source DF SS MS F P
Factor 4 445.59 111.40 96.44 0.000
Error 3695 4268.26 1.16
Total 3699 4713.85
A significantly low p-value of “0” with a 95% confidence interval resulting from a one-way
ANOVA test indicates that the factors influencing customer buying motives are differentially
expressed though the test does not specifically indicate which pair of factors exhibits the
statistical differences. Furthermore the resulted p-value “0” indicates the significant difference
between the factors influencing customer buying motives.
As there is a significant difference, it is very much crucial to identify that between which
factors the difference exists. There the Tukey test plays the major role in analysing the data
accordingly. Below tables depicts that which means are significantly different from one another.
All pair wise comparisons have been carried out with the 95% simultaneous confidence
intervals
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Table 5.3: Tukey test – Emotional factor

Factor = Emotional subtracted from
Factor Lower Center Upper
Experience -1.200 -1.048 -0.896
Profit or Money -0.881 -0.729 -0.577
Purchase -0.623 -0.451 -0.279
Result -0.621 -0.473 -0.325
Statistical theorems explain that if the confidence interval doesn't contain “0”, then there is a
significant difference between the factors. Accordingly, the first confidence interval goes from
-1.200 to -0.896, so there's no “0” in this range for the experience factor compared with the
emotional factor. As all the other confidence intervals also does not holds “0” at the respective
intervals, it can be precisely stated that there is a significant difference between each factor
towards the “Emotional - oriented” factor.
T able 5.4: Tukey test – Experience factor

Factor = Experience subtracted from:
Profit or Money 0.172 0.319 0.465
Purchase 0.430 0.597 0.764
Result 0.432 0.575 0.718
The first confidence interval goes from 0.172 to 0.465, so there's no “0” in this range for the
profit or money oriented factor compared with the experience factor. As all the other confidence
intervals also does not holds “0” at the respective intervals, it can be precisely stated that there is
a significant difference between each factor towards the “Experience - Oriented” factor.
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Table 5.5: Tukey test – Profit or money factor

Factor = Profit or Money subtracted from:
Purchase 0.111 0.278 0.445
Result 0.114 0.256 0.399
The first confidence interval goes from 0.111 to 0.445, so there's no “0” in this range for the
purchase factor compared with the profit or money oriented factor. As the other confidence
interval also does not holds “0” at the respective intervals, it can be clearly stated that there is a
significant difference between purchase and result oriented factor towards the “Profit or money -
Oriented” factor.
Table 5.6: Tukey test – Purchase factor

Factor = Purchase subtracted from:
Result -0.186 -0.022 0.142
The confidence interval goes from -0.186 to -0.022, so this interval does cover “0” for the result
factor compared with the purchase oriented factor. Therefore it can be quite correctly stated that
there is no any significant difference between result oriented factors towards the “Purchase -
Oriented” factor.
When extrapolating the data analyzed, the path is very much clear to come up with
general conclusions with regards to the factors influencing customer buying motives with special
reference to the Sri Lanka Telecom Broadband at micro level. Therefore the respective analysis
of the sample data has led the study towards making inferences about the whole applicable
population in a very much precise manner. Below graph depicts the best representation of factors,
considering most to least influence generated through each identified influential factor.
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Figure 5.2: Factors influencing customer buying motives – Classification of factors

considering most to least force
Most
Influential
When summing up the answers for the research question two for this respective study, below
includes the recommendations that can be recommended to help guide and refine the future
marketing attempts to be align with the influencing factors for customer buying motives.
The conducted study has unlocked a series of valuable concepts to be practiced by the Sri
Lanka Telecom PLC, in each single activity carried out. SLT should concern more on its
awareness mechanisms to be aligned with the factors influencing customer buying motives, by
putting required attention to the level of influence generated by each factor. SLT should concern
more on grabbing the hearts and minds of the existing as well as potential customer segments by
taking the opportunity to the maximum, with the thorough background knowhow. Along the way
SLT should work more on identifying ways and means for improving its processes and related
activities in order to be reached by the end customer in the most influential way. The company
June 27-28, 2012

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25
should plan and implement competitive, effective, reliable as well as practical awareness
mechanisms according to the best representation of the influential factors identified, considering
most to least force.
When summarizing all five influential factors, it has been understood that along with the
competitive as well as cutting edge awareness mechanisms the factors influencing customer
buying motives should also needed to be blended. It has been analyzed such that the company
would be able to go for big targets with the mix of those two aspects.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides Telecommunication services to
residential, corporate, and business customers in Sri Lanka. The company practices massive
customer awareness programs, coupled along with the newly introducing products and packages
as well as introducing value added services and new modifications to the existing products as the
leading Telecommunication service provider in Sri Lanka. Therefore the company has identified
the vitality of having a better understanding on the customer buying motives with regards to the
influence generated via each factor, In order to better streamline its marketing attempts, in facing
its rival activities at any given moment.
Most developing countries like Sri Lanka have many opportunities as well as need to
undergo many difficulties on conducting effective awareness campaigns due to a bunch of
reasons. When considering the Telecommunication business arena, it is a challenging factor to
identify the factors influencing customer buying motives carefully and to be more effective in
awareness methodologies and to be align with the identified factors, while thriving for hard
June 27-28, 2012

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26
targets. Therefore a company like Sri Lanka Telecom needs to put so much energy on keeping
and improving the level of its marketing attempts while facing any type of opportunities or
obstacles.
This respective research evaluates factors influencing customer buying motives
individually and has come up with a classification considering most to least force. While
conducting the research study different factors of customer buying motives have been observed
carefully, and through the observations following key areas can be recommended to be
implemented at the company premises in the future, targeting more effectiveness in its future
marketing attempts and more market share to the company.
As the leading Telecommunication Company in the country Sri Lanka Telecom PLC
should,
a. Understand the personnel priorities and concerns of the targeted end customers and
address accordingly
b. Be more customized in awareness methodologies and be align with the customer buying
motives in each attempt
c. Identify the competitor movements in their marketing endeavors and be proactive
wherever necessary
d. Maintain comprehensive repository of market intelligence
e. Plan for awareness campaigns through getting forecasted market information via
comprehensive researches
It was a great experience to go through factors influencing customer buying motives with
regards to a business entity while that entity is running on a very competitive environment. Each
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and every chapter in this analysis report explains the entire set of information gathered and
analyzed in-order to identify the best classification of the factors influencing the customer
buying motives as well as to make comprehensive understanding of those factors. Company
resource personals, survey representatives, company documents, lectures, articles, related books
and last but no means least the Internet was a huge back for conducting the respective research
study without facing to any major limitations. From the beginning to the end, the total experience
was invaluable as the conducted research was very informative as well as provided many
opportunities to take clear decisions and also to come up with the best as well as the most
reliable classification, which has been proved statistically.
The respective research was conducted in an unbiased manner; therefore any interested
party can depend on the decisions and predictions made in the research report. In concluding
this document it can be clearly stated that the conducted research study on the factors influencing
customer buying motives with special reference to SLT Broadband at micro level, was a great
experience and a great milestone.
REFERENCES
Chang, W.L., Lu, L.C., Su, H.J.,Lin, T.A. & Chang, K.Y. (2011). “Mediating effect of buying
motives between physical vanity and online compulsive buying”. African Journal of
Business Management, vol. 5, Issue 8, pp.3289-3296
Erasmus, A.C., Boshoff, E. & Rousseau G.G. (2001). “Consumer decision making models within
the discipline of consumer science: a critical approach”. Journal of Family Ecology and
Consumer Sciences, vol. 29, pp.82-90
Gitomer, J. (2003). “Rather than selling, take a look at buying”. Grand Rapids Business Journal,
vol. 21, Issue 47, pp.23-23
Gitomer, J. (2004). “Before you sell, tap into the motives for buying”. Business Journal (Central
New York), vol. 17, Issue 47, pp.11-11
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28
Gitomer, J. (2004). “Determine buying motive, then sell”. Inside Tuscon Business Journal, vol.
13, Issue 52, pp.10-10
Hibbert, S.A., Hogg G. (2005). “Social entrepreneurship: Undestanding the consumer motives
for buying The Big Issue”. Journal of Consumer Behavior, vol. 4, Issue 3, pp.159-172
Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2008). Principles of Marketing. India: Prentice-Hall of India

Publications
Kotler, P., Keller, K. (2009). Marketing Management. India: Prentice-Hall of India Publications
Levine, D.M., Krehbiel, T.C., Berenson, M.L., Wiswanathan, P.K. (2011). Business Statistics, A
First Course. India: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd
Rada, Jr. J. (1999). “What makes buyers buy?”. American Salesman Journal, vol. 44, Issue 12,
pp.25-30
Sheth, J.N., Newman, B.I. and Gross, B.L. (1991). “Why we buy what we buy: A theory of
consumption values”. Journal of Business Research, vol. 22, pp.159-172
Sri Lanka Telecom PLC. 2010 Annual Report. Investor Relations. Retrieved October 28, 2011
from http://www.slt.lk/data/investor/pdf/annual_report_2010/html/annual_report_2010.swf.
Tadajewski, M. (2006). “Remembering motivation research: toward an alternative genealogy of

interpretive consumer research”. Sage Journals, vol. 6, Issue 4, pp.429-466
Udell, J.G. (2001). “A New Approach to Consumer Motivation”. Journal of Retailing, vol. 40,
Issue 4, pp.6-11
William, M.P., Ferrell, O.C. (2010). Marketing Planning, Implementation, and Control. India:
Cengage Learning India Private Limited
ABBREVIATIONS
 ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line

 ANOVA - ANalysis Of Variance
 CDMA - Code Division Multiple Access
 ICT - Information and Communication Technologies
 ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network
 IP - Internet Protocol
 IPTV - Internet Protocol Television
 MPLS - Multi Protocol Label Switching
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 NGN - Next Generation Networking

 PLC - Public Limited Company
 SLT - Sri Lanka Telecom
 TDM - Time-Division Multiplexing
 VPN - Virtual Private Network
 VoIP - Voice Over Internet Protocol
 Wi-Max - Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
June 27-28, 2012

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30

Pradeep Randiwela, Tharanga S. Widanachchi

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2012 Cambridge Business & Economics Conference ISBN : 9780974211428

FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER BUYING MOTIVES;

University of Colombo-Sri Lanka

June 27-28, 2012

company coupled with a comprehensive survey based on a questionnaire distributed among

the required attention to other factors accordingly.

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communication and entertainment services. Being the leading Telecommunication service

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a. Inability to obtain anticipated customer responses after investing on those programs.

c. Gradual decline in the Broadband market share

What degrees of influence are made by these factors?

 to assess the variability of influence generated through influencing factors of

customer buying motives with regards to the SLT Broadband and,

Figure 1.1: Factors Influencing Customer Buying Motives

Structure of the Study

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Analyzing customer buying motives has identified as a cornerstone of a successful marketing

development of effective marketing strategies.

sequence of activities known as behaviour, Udell, (2001)

Melvin T. Copeland. In an attempt to present a classification of motives useful to business

June 27-28, 2012

psychological interpretation of the product.

understanding prior to next step, Kotler and Armstrong, (2008).

attitudes are also should be taken as key concerns.

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any successful marketing attempt.

tolerance for risk.

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heads from business customers and 50 heads from residential customers.

the difference, Crichton (1990).

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considering most to least force, which is more practical indeed.

customer groups. Below table depicts the above discussed scenario.

Table 4.1: Analysis on Profit or Money Oriented Factor

Broadband price range matches to the ability of expense 3.300 1.040

Service bought is worth for the money 3.270 1.053

Dependability of the Broadband package bought, for day today activities

the outcome tends to move towards the neutral side.

Figure 4.1: Analysis on Profit or Money Oriented Factor

Purchase - Oriented Factor

Table 4.2: Analysis on Purchase Oriented Factor

Type of reason forced to buy a Broadband connection 4.080 1.134

Got the connection at correct time 3.6500 0.9468

Were there any influencers that pushed to purchase the Broadband

Do the awareness campaigns, seasonal or special promotions have pushed

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outcome tends to move towards the positive side.

Figure4. 2: Analysis on Purchase Oriented Factor

Emotional - Oriented Factor

each of the question raised for this respective measurement variable.

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sample of different customer representation.

Table 4.3: Analysis on Emotional Oriented Factor

What motivates to make the purchase 4.180 1.175

Broadband Technology will provide a better learning experience 4.0400 0.8867

“It is a necessary requirement for everyone to have a Broadband

Will it be a plus point for a person to have a Broadband connection to

elaborates the explained scenario.

Figure 4.3: Analysis on Emotional Oriented Factor

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Experience - Oriented Factor