It has been found that average life of mobile is around 12 months. The mobile phone industry is growing at a rapid pace with the demand coming from both new users and from existing users who switch to newer and better models.

The industry itself is geared to give additional features and brand names are signifying the status of their owners.

The market is also growing with advent of new applications in the areas of banking services, product aggregators, healthcare apps etc. It becomes difficult to identify specific customer requirements as a mobile has become a multifunctional instrument for entertainment business and social networking

Mobile phones are widely used amongst all age groups and are a fast-growing industry. Globally, communication through mobile phones is one of the fastest growing businesses. Big giants in the mobile industry are eyeing on the Asian Continent for business growth as there is huge scope in the Asian market.

China and Korea are leaders in manufacturing low cost mobiles and being the competitor for leading manufacturers in this segment.

Robertson (2001) in his research on mobile phones quoted that China is leading in mobile phones. The competition for the mobile phone manufacturers is intense. Mobile Phone manufacturers are marketing the mobiles by advertising the features of the phone, endorsed by the celebrities.

The companies are also promoting phones, comparing the unique features such as: attractive appearance, dialling speed, colour, shape and customized options.

The marketing strategies that have been widely used in many different industries based on the research on consumers purchasing behavior with special reference to the influence of social influencing groups.

Lachoee, Wake ford and Pearson (2003) stated that the history of mobile phones involved developments in the areas of technology, society and political frameworks.

The focus of consumer towards mobile phones is increasing the need for research in this area. People are obsessed with the usage of their mobile phones. In today’s era, mobile phones are not just a necessity but people are using it for increasing their networking and staying connected with their friends and families.

Various apps such as Whatsapp, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram etc. are used for business purpose. Hence, due to high usage on a personal front and in business it is becoming essential to possess a mobile phone. There is a shift in the thought process of the consumer. High usage of mobile phones is seen across all ages.

Increasing income has brought about a radical shift in the type of mobile phones used by consumers.

Flourishing advertising industry also provides the necessary support to increase the sale of the mobile phones.

Marketing strategies of the company’s manufacturing mobile phones help in creating or destroying the brand.

Today’s consumer is techno savvy and gain information about the technical configuration and features of mobile phones before buying the product.

Mobile Phone Buying Behaviour

Several researches have been conducted on the factors influencing the purchase of smartphones. According, to Uddin, Lopa & Oheduzzaman, the most important factor is the physical attributes, which are looked by the consumer while buying a new mobile phone.

The researcher also states that, some other factors influencing the consumer buying behavior are pricing, charging and operating facilities, size and weight, friends’ and colleagues’ recommendations, neighbors’ recommendations and advertising.

Basha, Lakshmanna and Fayaz have also studied the various factors influencing the consumer buying behavior on mobile phones, and have summarized it that the choices of mobiles differ, amongst various age groups and income levels, and the choice depends on the services derived and hold for longer duration, based on the quality of the mobile phone.

Debasish and Mallick in their research found that, companies should develop action plans with specific marketing strategies considering the complexity of the set of factors influencing consumer behavior and to target the potential of rural market in Asia.

Strategic planning is required to market in rural areas and new mobile phones launch cannot be successful if this is not implemented in a proper manner. Rural market should have different branding activities and plans as the consumer mindset does not have similarity with the mindset of the consumer staying in urban areas.

Success has been achieved by companies which have adopted an integrated plan of urban marketing strategies and action plans.

Kaur studied consumer purchase behavior towards mobile phone. The study conducted in India by the researcher revealed that consumers prefer to use single mobile phone with android operating system. The consumers were found to be satisfied with their existing brand of mobile phone. This study also showed that the consumers replaced the phones between one to two years. The consumers preferred Samsung brand mobiles.

Martensen in the empirical survey-based study proved that teens show low loyalty towards their mobile phone brand as compared to the adults. The study also concluded that in case of twins a weak relationship existed between satisfaction and loyalty. It was also observed that satisfaction levels of teens were higher than that of adults despite their lower levels of loyalty.

Due to this teen do not go for the same brands at the time of repurchase nor do they recommend their current brand of mobile phones to others.

Mohankumar and Dineshkumar in their study mentioned that, the consumers are buying a variety of mobile phones, which satisfy their needs and wants. They are always influenced in their purchasing activities by some considerations, which lead him to select a brand or a store, which is preferred by others.

Consumers give great importance to the product attributes than the functional factors while purchasing a mobile phone. Karjaluoto et al. study dealt with the choice criteria of the consumers in buying mobile phones. The factors studies were the influence intention to acquire new mobile phones and factors influencing the change of mobile phones.

The technical problem in mobiles was found to be the main reason to change the mobile phone and the most influential features sought by consumers before the purchase of mobile phones were price, interface, brand and properties.

Singh and Goyal studied the consumers buying behavior of mobile handset by different age groups and gender.

The research conclusion mentions that the age group of 18-30 years were less sensitive to pricing and physical attributes, brand, value added features and technical features were more important in making a purchase decision.

Moreover, the consumers belonging to the age group of 50 years or more gave more importance to price rather than features.

Significant differences also prevailed between different age groups with regards to the importance given to all factors except the repairs and after sales services. There was a high difference between the core technical features and brand of handset. Differences of opinion between male and female were also existed with the brand and technical features of the mobile handsets.

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