Consumer Behavior

Introduction

In Bangladesh the use of expensive luxury cell phone is quite common among the rich, namely the upper class people. Cell phone was first introduced in Bangladesh by City Cell in the mid nineties; at first it was luxury then it became necessity. However, many people from the middle class and upper middle class are also becoming more interested in buying expensive cell phones. Renowned mobile phone manufacturers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola have already opened their sales and service centre in Dhaka. It is evident that the sale of these cell phones is satisfactory for them. Nonetheless, we cannot forget that Bangladesh is a country where even a little comfortable life is a distant dream of many people. But it is also true that there are a good number of affluent people who are lucky enough to get more than just comfort; they are living in luxury. And expensive cell phones are just a part of their lives. Luxury cell phones have now become almost an essential item for rich people. "The price range for luxury cell phones starts from Tk. 20,000 to 60,000 and they are available at different shops in Shoppers World, Eastern Plaza, Rifles Square and other markets. There is a demand for cell phones even costlier than Tk.1 lakh or above. For instance, there are cell phones which have gold plated covers and there are also cell phones which have diamonds embedded on the casing. The rich and influential businessmen and their offspring are the primary customers for these state-of-the-art cell phones (Alam, 2008).

For them, having expensive cell phones is a status symbol. These people are just few among many citizens of Bangladesh who are more than fortunate to afford such extraordinarily lavish life-style in this poor country. It is interesting because even 6 to 7 years ago, almost all the people who could afford cell phones were happy with a very limited number of cell phones, which were not very costly but good enough.

Methodology

We have worked on both primary and secondary data in order to do my research. Here we tried to explain the methodology of gathering data in details.

Primary Data

As an essential part of my research, primary data got the most importance in our research.

For our primary data, we conducted a survey through a questionnaire containing a total of 11 questions including demographic information. The first part of the questionnaire contained information regarding the respondents and the second part contained the questions. We surveyed a total of 30 people including both NSU students and a few faculties. After the survey we analyzed all the responses and tried to get to a conclusion regarding our research topic

Secondary Data

To collect my secondary data, we took the help of magazines, news articles and several websites.

Interviews

We also took the interview of Mr. Syed Nawsel Anwar, The Marketing Executive of Nokia Bangladesh.

Hypothesis

Based on all these reasons we will try to find out in our research the personality traits of the users of luxury cell phones in Bangladesh and the psychological and social factors for which these rich people prefer these cell phones. Therefore the hypothesis for this research is rich people use expensive and exclusive cell phones to portray their social positions and to satisfy their want of innovativeness.

Results of the research

A survey was conducted among 30 luxury cell phone users and the following data has been generated from the survey.

1. Gender

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Out of the 30 respondents, 22 were males which constituted 73%. On the other hand, 8 of them were female which constituted 27%. According to our research, men seemed to spend more money on cell phones than women. The possible reason for this is that their female counterparts spend their disposable income on things other than expensive cell phones.

2. Age

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The graph shows approximately 87% respondents using expensive cell phones are in the age range of 20-29. Those who are between 30-39 years and 40-49 constitute a total of 13% (6.5% each). None of the respondents, however, belonged to the 50+ category. It looks like the younger people are more likely to use fashionable and luxury phones compared to people in their thirties and forties.

3. Occupation

|Occupation |Percentage |

|Student |87% |

|Teacher |13% |

|Others |0% |

Again, 87% respondents in our survey were students. It also included university teachers who make up the rest, 13% percent. This particular question strongly supports that the younger group, mainly students are more concerned about phones when it comes to exclusivity. Since many of them are at their post adolescence stage, they feel a strong urge of belongingness and this encourages them to buy fashionable cell phones that would help them to associate with their peer groups. On the other hand, the elder group who are more matured, tend to see these cell phones as trivial things and they believe that there are other things which are more significant in life.

4. Gross Monthly Income [pic]

17% of the respondents have a gross monthly income that is less than Tk. 20,000. Majority of 39% of the respondents have an income between Tk. 20,000-35,000. So these are the people who are most likely to buy expensive cell phones. 11% are in the income range of Tk. 35,000-50,000. Then we have 16% who fall into the Tk. 50,000-75,000 range. Another 17% earn more than Tk. 75,000 per month.

5. Residence

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The percentage of people using exclusive cell phones is the highest (that is 40%) at Gulshan area. Since it is