Professional Documents
Culture Documents
LAPTOP BUYING
(DELL LAPTOPS)
1. INTRODUCTION
The introduction section will be explaining the industry, research objective, scope of study and
limitations.
Internet has created a paradigm shift to the way people shop. A consumer is no longer bound to
specific location. He can purchase products at virtually any time and any place. Online shopping
is the process consumers go through when they decide to shop on the internet. To retain
customers on the net, the first step is to identify the influencing aspects when purchasing online.
The study of consumers helps firms and organizations improve their marketing strategies
E-commerce increases consumers' ability to gather information about products and prices.
College students are one of the potential E-customer category of laptop industry. People who
tend to buy laptops are much likely to have awareness about E-commerce and internet.
Analyzing the E-customer trends and preferences would leverage the online laptop trade to a
greater extent.
1.2.1 Specialties
computers, storage, servers, IT services, services
1.3 PRODUCT PROFILE
For over 26 years, Dell has empowered communities and people everywhere to use technology
to realize their dreams. Customers trust us to deliver technology solutions that help them do and
achieve more at home, work, school or anywhere in their world. The range of products that they
provide are Desktops, Servers, Notebooks, Netbooks, Peripherals, Printers, Televisions,
Scanners,Storage,
1.3 SEGMENT
Due to the rapid development of Internet technologies surrounding the Internet, a company that
is interested in selling products from its website will constantly have to search for an edge in the
fierce competition.
The renowned marketing expert Philip Kotler has published several works on the topic of
consumer behavior theories. These theories have been used for many years not only to
understand the consumer, but also create a marketing strategy that will attract the consumer
efficiently.
Hence, understanding and identifying the consumer is closely related to the directions a company
will take with their marketing strategy. These theories can also be applied to identify the online
consumer and to create certain consumer segments. However, some distinctions must still be
made when considering traditional consumer behavior and online consumer behavior.
Since online retailing is a new retailing medium and online consumer behavior is diverse from
traditional consumer behavior, one must identify what influences the online consumer.
Analyzing the process that the online consumer goes through when deciding and making a laptop
purchase over the Internet, shows some factors that consumers consider. These factors need to be
identified and taken into account by online retailers in order to satisfy consumer demands and
compete in the online market. To further understand how these factors influence different types
of consumers, we must identify segments which will enable us to make comparisons.
1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this research is primarily to identify and get insight into what main factors the
online consumer and a college student takes into consideration when purchasing laptops online,
as laptops are one of the most commonly bought product on the Internet.
The findings of this research will be outlined as implications for online book retailers in order to
enhance their consumer knowledge and increase their online marketing strategy effectiveness.
• What main factors affect the online consumer when considering and making a laptop
purchase over the Internet?
• How do these factors influence the consumer when purchasing laptops online?
• What kind of segments can be found within the identified consumers when purchasing
laptops online?
• What is the connection with the identified factors and consumer segment groups?
1.1 LIMITATIONS
There are a number of factors influencing the online consumers of laptops. However, this
research will try to identify the main factors influencing college students who are online
consumers and will, therefore, try to limit these to a few in order to be able to investigate the
effect on the online consumer.
Within the field of consumer behavior there are many theories and models that identify the
consumer. This research will limit itself to identifying the consumer through his/her consumer
characteristics and the consumer buying process.
1. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
1
When a consumer purchases a product online, he or she is affected by various factors. The main
influencing factors have been identified as Price, Trust, and Convenience. The Price factor exists
because prices are often lower on Internet stores compared to physical stores due to lower costs.
Purchasing a product can greatly benefit the consumer in terms of convenience and saving
money. It is also convenient to shop on various laptop sites with different assortments, from the
home. Trust is evidently needed since the consumer must share detailed personal and financial
information when purchasing a product online. These types of data include the full name,
delivery address and credit card number for example, which makes Trust an important factor.
To be able to see how these factors affect consumers, we conducted a survey at the University of
Kristianstad. We the found that the factor Price is of the highest concern to the students and that
the factors Trust and Convenience had lower impact on the students. The decision was made to
investigate if any segments could be found within the population sample. We identified three
segments, High Spenders, Price Easers, and Bargain Seekers .We further investigated these
segments and their overall attitude towards the factors Price, Trust, and Convenience.
SELF CRITICISM
The collection of our primary data was conducted through a survey. When we had decided upon
a population to research, we were affected by a lack of time in our decision making process, and
consequently focused on visiting large classes for receiving answers from as many respondents
as possible. This then resulted in a large number of respondents being in similar age groups. As
a consequence, the respondents where to large extent attending the same semester due to that we
collected data from a few larger classes. This made it in its turn necessary for us to segment in a
different way than what we first had anticipated. The lack of time also resulted in that merely a
limited number of respondents could be collected. If the number of respondents would have had
been larger, the significant variance could to a greater extent affect of the factors which would
have resulted in a more valid investigation and higher generalization of the research.
One could also argue according to the results, that the respondents were too absolute in their
perception and perhaps would have needed to answer on a smaller scale than one with seven
alternatives to choose from.
FUTURE RESEARCH
After having conducted our research and considering the limitations in time and resources that
we had been facing, it would be of interest to examine our research topic further as well as more
profoundly. Below, we have listed a few deductions for possible future research:
It would be interesting to conduct a survey at another university. If this would be done and
similar results were discovered, one could apply generalization to the results.
Conduct a survey on a larger sample, also including people that are not students and segmenting
according to that. This could find new segments, with new analytical possibilities.
This research was conducted from the consumers point of view, and if could also be conducted
with greater focus towards the online retailer.
We found that Price, Trust and Convenience were factors that are important when a consumer
decides to purchase online, but it would be interesting to see whether the concepts of these
factors are perceived equally between all consumers or if there were any discrepancies.
Many scientific disciplines, especially social science and psychology, use this method to obtain a
general overview of the subject.
Some subjects cannot be observed in any other way; for example, a social case study of an
individual subject is a descriptive research design and allows observation without affecting
normal behavior.
It is also useful where it is not possible to test and measure the large number of samples needed
for more quantitative types of experimentation.
These types of experiments are often used by anthropologists, psychologists and social scientists
to observe natural behaviors without affecting them in any way. It is also used by market
researchers to judge the habits of customers, or by companies wishing to judge the morale of
staff.
The results from a descriptive research can in no way be used as a definitive answer or to
disprove a hypothesis but, if the limitations are understood, they can still be a useful tool in many
areas of scientific research.
ADVANTAGES
The subject is being observed in a completely natural and unchanged natural environment. A
good example of this would be an anthropologist who wanted to study a tribe without affecting
their normal behavior in any way. True experiments, whilst giving analyzable data, often
adversely influence the normal behavior of the subject.
Descriptive research is often used as a pre-cursor to quantitative research designs, the general
overview giving some valuable pointers as to what variables are worth testing quantitatively.
Quantitative experiments are often expensive and time-consuming so it is often good sense to get
an idea of what hypotheses are worth testing.
DISADVANTAGES
Because there are no variables manipulated, there is no way to statistically analyze the results.
Many scientists regard this type of study as very unreliable and ‘unscientific’.
In addition, the results of observational studies are not repeatable, and so there can be no
replication of the experiment and reviewing of the results.
SUMMARY
Descriptive research design is a valid method for researching specific subjects and as a precursor
to more quantitative studies. Whilst there are some valid concerns about the statistical validity, as
long as the limitations are understood by the researcher, this type of study is an invaluable
scientific tool.
Whilst the results are always open to question and to different interpretations, there is no doubt
that they are preferable to performing no research at all.
3.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology is considered the most significant factor of the project. Without a proper
well-organized research plan, it is impossible to complete the project and reach a conclusion. The
main objective of the survey in this project is to collect appropriate data.
Research methodology talks about the methods and the logic behind the methods used in the
context of a research study and it explains why a particular method has been used in preference
of other methods.
Research design is important because of the increased complexity in the market as well as
marketing approaches available to the researchers. In fact, it is the key to the evolution of
successful marketing strategies. It is important to study buyer’s behaviour, consumption pattern,
brand loyalty, and focus market changes. A research design specifies the methods and
procedures for conducting a particular study. According to Kerlinger, an educational and
behavioral research scientist, “Research Design is a plan, conceptual structure, and strategy of
investigation conceived as to obtain answers to research questions and to control variance”.
TYPES OF RESEARCH DESIGN
• Historical Research Design - The purpose is to collect, verify, synthesize evidence to
establish facts that defend or refute your hypothesis. It uses primary sources, secondary
sources, and lots of qualitative data sources such as logs, diaries, official records, reports,
etc. The limitation is that the sources must be both authentic and valid.
• Case and Field Research Design - Also called ethnographic research, it uses direct
observation to give a complete snapshot of a case that is being studied. It is useful when
not much is known about a phenomenon. Uses few subjects.
• Developmental or Time Series Research Design - Data are collected at certain points in
time going forward. There is an emphasis on time patterns and longitudinal growth or
change.
• Descriptive study can be complex, demanding a high degree of scientific skill on part of
the researcher.
• A descriptive study tends to be rigid and its approach cannot be changed every now and
then.
Descriptive studies can be divided into two broad categories: Cross Sectional and Longitudinal
Sectional.
A cross sectional study is concerned with a sample of elements from a given population. Thus, it
may deal with household, dealers, retail stores, or other entities. Data on a number of
characteristics from sample elements are collected and analyzed. Cross sectional studies are of
two types: Field study and Survey. Although the distinction between them is not clear- cut, there
are some practical differences, which need different techniques and skills. Field studies are ex-
post-factor scientific inquiries that aim at finding the relations and interrelations among variables
in a real setting. Such studies are done in live situations like communities, schools, factories, and
organizations.
Another type of cross sectional study is survey result, which has been undertaken in this project.
A major strength of survey research is its wide scope.
Advantages of survey
• It is obvious that a sample survey needs less time than a census inquiry.
Descriptive research includes survey and fact finding enquiries. The main characteristic of this
method is that the researcher has no control over the variables; he can only report what has
happened or what is happening. The methods of research utilized in descriptive research are
survey methods of all kinds including comparative and co relational methods.
The objective of this project is to analyze the consumer behavior of college students in laptop
online buying. The survey was conducted among a sample of 100 college students, out of which
50 are from the under graduate crowd and 50 are from the post graduate crowd.
A Questionnaire is prepared, and distributed to 100 college students who possess internet
connection. The results from this survey form the primary data from which conclusion are
drawn. There are 20 questions related to consumers who buy laptop online, in this survey form.
Pie and bar charts are used to represent the survey results.
From the results drawn, recommendations are also made to the laptop online sellers (companies).
Data analysis
1. Questionnaires
Questionnaires
This is the most popular tool for the data collection. A questionnaire contains question that the
researcher wishes to ask his respondents which is always guided by the objective of the survey.
Pie chart
This is very useful diagram to represent data, which are divided into a number of categories. This
diagram consists of a circle of divided into a number of sectors, which are proportional to the
values they represent. The total value is represented by the full create. The diagram bar chart can
make comparison among the various components or between a part and a whole of data.
Bar chart
This is another way of representing data graphically. As the name implies, it consist of a number
of whispered bar, which originate from a common base line and are equal widths. The lengths of
the bards are proportional to the value they represent.
1. DATA INTERPRETATION
From a survey conducted among 100 college students, data is interpreted and represented in
tables and graphs.
QUESTIONNARE
YES NO
80 20
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ONLINE STORE YOU HAVE VISITED FOR BUYING
A LAPTOP ONLINE?
YES NO
20 60
WOULD YOU PREFER ONLINE PURCHASING TO ANYONE?
YES NO
70 10
1.1 Graphs
2. AGE
i)18-20 ii)20-22 iii)22-24 iv)ABOVE
32 25 40 3
3. GENDER
i)MALE ii)FEMALE
65 35
4. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
i)UG ii)PG
50 50
5. FAMILY INCOME(MONTHLY)
i)UPTO 25000 ii)25000-50000 iii)50000-75000 iv)>75000
4 20 38 38
From the sample size of 100 college students with Internet connection the following
inference was made:
1. SUGGESTION/RECOMMENDATIONS
1. CONCLUSION
In this project, the behavior of college students in online laptop shopping was analyzed. Since
the sample size is small and the demography of the conducted survey is limited the results
concluded is subjected to variation.
2. APPENDIX
4.1 Bibliography
http://www.experiment-resources.com/descriptive-research-design.html
http://www.dissertation-statistics.com/research-designs.html
http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/
http://www.onesmartclick.com/buy-laptop/buying-laptop.html
4.2 Sample questions
1. NAME :
2. AGE
i)18-20 ii)20-22 iii)22-24 iv)ABOVE
3. GENDER
i)MALE ii)FEMALE
4. EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION
i)UG ii)PG
5. FAMILY INCOME(MONTHLY)
i)UPTO 25000 ii)25000-50000 iii)50000-75000 iv)>75000
12.WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ONLINE STORE YOU HAVE VISITED FOR BUYING A
LAPTOP ONLINE?
i)EBAY ii)YAHOO SHOPPING iii)AMAZON iv)OTHERS(SPECIFY)
20.SUGGESTIONS
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