A STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL SELLING ON BUYING

PROCESS AT POINT OF PURCHASE

(With Reference to Handsets )

Interim thesis Submitted to

K L University Business School

Submitted by
Kasireddy kikkiri
Reg No : 09101990

Under the Guidance

Mr. Ramesh Babu MBA,
Assistant Professor,
KLUBS, KL UNIVERSITY,
Vaddeswaram GUNTUR Dist.
 A STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL SELLING ON BUYING
PROCESS AT POINT OF PURCHASE IN VIJAYAWADA

(With Reference to HANDSETS)

Interim thesis Submitted to

K L University Business School

Submitted on: Evaluated by:

Signature of the Student Signature of Faculty

Supervisor

Marks Allotted: Attested by HOD. KLUBS

 Title and Proposal Approval Form
The MBA Program (The Class of 2009 - 2011)

Enrollment No. 0 9 1 0 1 9 9 0

Name of the Student KASIREDDY KIKKIRI

Semester III Semester IV

1. BRAND MANAGEMENT(MKT) 5.
2. INTERNATIONAL MARKETING(MKT) 6.
Elective courses selected 3. INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS 7.
MANAGEMENT (FT)
8.
4. EXPORT IMPORT DOCUMENTATION
AND INSURANCE (FT)

Sectoral Elective Course BANKING BANKING

Sector: Mkting Company Name: ICICI

DIRECT,Guntur

SIP Title: selling worth of RS 4,00,000 of LI Products and 1,00,000 GI

SIP Details products add 16 DEMAT a/c ‘s in icici direct Guntur.

Product/Function__smart kid,assure wealth,pansion plan

Target Achievement: SELLING OF 20,000 of LI products

Name of the Faculty M V A L Narasimha rao

Supervisor

Functional Area of the MARKETING

Supervisor

A STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL SELLING ON BUYING PROCESS AT

Title of Management POINT OF PURCHASE IN VIJAYAWADA(With Reference to HANDSETS )
Thesis

Relevant Functional Marketing

Area

Date: 12.10.2010

Signature of the Student

Faculty Supervisor Head of the Department Director

Date: Date: Date:

Introduction:

A mobile phone (also called mobile, cellular phone, cell phone or handphone) is an
electronic device used for full duplex two-way radio telecommunications over a cellular
network of base stations known as cell sites. Mobile phones differ from cordless telephones,
which only offer telephone service within limited range through a single base station attached
to a fixed land line, for example within a home or an office.

In addition to being a telephone, modern mobile phones also support many additional
services, and accessories, such as SMS (or text) messages, email, Internet access, gaming,
Bluetooth, infrared, camera, MMS messaging, MP3 player, radio and GPS. Low-end mobile
phones are often referred to as feature phones, whereas high-end mobile phones that offer
more advanced computing ability are referred to as smartphones.

The first handheld cellular phone was demonstrated by Martin Cooper of Motorola in
1973, using a handset weighing in at two kilos. In the year 1990, 12.4 million people
worldwide had cellular subscriptions. By the end of 2009, only 20 years later, the number of
mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide reached approximately 4.6 billion, 370 times the
1990 number, penetrating the developing economies and reaching the bottom of the
economic pyramid.

 India has come in a close second in the sale of mobile phones in the year 2006. China
has led the race of mobile sales being the highest in the world. In India however the GSM
phones rule over the CDMA handsets. Leading the categories are Nokia, Samsung, Sony
Erickson while Reliance takes a large size share in the corporate segment. 

Subscribers in India are basking in the glory of the ever increasing number of subscriber
patronage. Around 14.95 crore new subscribers were listed up from 8.5 subscribers in 2005.
A gargantuan number of around 5 million customers enrol each month giving the
network providers a huge profit margin. According to the increasing number the subscribers
list is said to hit 48 crores by 2011 that is an approximate of 50 crore. Wow, this is some
industry that is climbing the path no matter what comes in its way.

Now to analyse why the growth graph seems to be at an all time high means to understand
the buyers psyche. As the economic stability of the country is growing so is that of an
individual. Income patterns are rising and employees are moving up the corporate ladder.
They want to be seen with better handsets as there is a quaint feeling that the mobile should
match the designation or just make a status statement with a smart and expensive phone.
Hence with such attitudes ruling the market everyone wants to stand out with
the handset they own.

History :

An evolution of mobile phones

The first mobile telephone call made from a car occurred in St. Louis, Missouri, USA on
June 17, 1946, but the system was impractical from what is considered a portable handset
today. The equipment weighed 80 lbs, and the AT&T service, basically a massive party line,
cost $30 USD per month plus 30 to 40 cents per local call.

In 1960, the world’s first partly automatic car phone system, Mobile System A (MTA),
was launched in Sweden. MTA phones were composed of vacuum tubes and relays, and had
a weight of 40 kg. In 1962, a more modern version called Mobile System B (MTB) was
launched, which was a push-button telephone, and which used transistors in order to enhance
the telephone’s calling capacity and improve its operational reliability. In 1971 the MTD
version was launched, opening for several different brands of equipment and gaining
commercial success.

The first commercially automated cellular network (the 1G generation) was launched in
Japan by NTT in 1979, initially in the metropolitan area of Tokyo. Within five years, the
NTT network had been expanded to cover the whole population of Japan and became the first
nation-wide 1G network. In 1981, this was followed by the simultaneous launch of the
Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. NMT
was the first mobile phone network featuring international roaming. The first 1G network
launched in the USA was Chicago based Ameritech in 1983 using the Motorola DynaTAC
mobile phone. Several countries then followed in the early 1980s including the UK, Mexico
and Canada.

The first "modern" network technology on digital 2G (second generation) cellular

technology was launched by Radiolinja (now part of Elisa Group) in 1991 in Finland on the
GSM standard which also marked the introduction of competition in mobile telecoms when
Radiolinja challenged incumbent Telecom Finland (now part of TeliaSonera) who ran a 1G
NMT network.

In 2001 the first commercial launch of 3G (Third Generation) was again in Japan by NTT
DoCoMo on the WCDMA standard.

One of the newest 3G technologies to be implemented is High-Speed Downlink Packet

Access (HSDPA). It is an enhanced 3G (third generation) mobile telephony communications
protocol in the High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) family, also coined 3.5G, 3G+ or turbo
3G, which allows networks based on Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS)
to have higher data transfer speeds and capacity.

Future evolution: Broadband Fourth generation (4G)

The recently released 4th generation, also known as Beyond 3G, aims to provide
broadband wireless access with nominal data rates of 100 Mbit/s to fast moving devices, and
1 Gbit/s to stationary devices defined by the ITU-R 4G systems may be based on the 3GPP
LTE (Long Term Evolution) cellular standard, offering peak bit rates of 326.4 Mbit/s. It may
perhaps also be based on WiMax or Flash-OFDM wireless metropolitan area network
technologies that promise broadband wireless access with speeds that reaches 233 Mbit/s for
mobile users.
Market share :

The Four Major Trends In Mobile Phone Industry

1, low-end mobile phones will be a long time, but the prices and profit margins will be
compressed. Low-end multimedia mobile phones and multimedia handsets to lower prices of
the two trends in parallel. 

2, mobile Internet, mobile phones will become the mainstream products. Terminal
equipment, operating system, cell phone browser, the software stores, Web site constitutes
mobile Internet ecosystem, including software and Web services will become the main source
of profits. Mobile Internet will become the "warlords and onwards, chase close fight," the
main battlefield! 
3, cell phone use will enter the video age, the video phone in the historical arena. In the 3G
era, mobile applications from voice-based voice services into data services, mobile phone
from "I have heard of the Times" into the "watch era." In the "video age", large-screen cell
phone hardware will be mainstream. Whether a video function and the size of the screen size,
will be divided into smart phones grade standards. TV on your phone, video calls, web video
chat, video home monitoring applications, and interconnection of electronic photo frame,
mobile video network will become a selling point. 

4, physical networking devices will enrich the mobile terminal product line. The radio
frequency identification (RFID), infrared sensors, global positioning systems, laser scanners
and other information sensing capabilities of the device into the communication terminal, will
create a complex network terminal products. This as a definition, based on 3G network early
on the remote home monitoring devices. With radio frequency identification-enabled phone,
is the recent new phone type.

Mobile industry growth :

The rapid growth of the mobile phone industry has created billionaires by the bucketload,
particularly in developing countries where well-connected business families have been able
to gain control of the telecommunications market.

.
Mobile Handset Market in India

The cell phones industry has shown a remarkable growth in the last decade. In 1989 the
number of its subscribers was zero in India.As the mobile revolution took hold and India had
just 10 million mobile and landlineconnections. Delhi was the first state to launch cell phones
in India.Growth then soared in the last four years due to regulatory change andfalling costs of
calls and handsets. India’s wireless market is a test bed foralternative infrastructure, handsets,
billing systems, business models andmarketing strategies that will likely prove applicable to
other developingcountries
On a numerical basis, India is the biggest growth market adding about 6 million cell
phones every month. CAGR for mobile phones is 86% in India. It is one of the fastest
growing mobile markets in the world; in April 2006 mobile subscriber base crossed 100
million mark. This has been accomplished by rethinking handsets, network infrastructure,
enhanced services and content. More than two-third of mobile subscriptions are with GSM
operators and rest with CDMA. India has one of the lowest mobile phone tariffs in the world
resulting in low Average Revenue per User (ARPU) of 9.04 USD per year (CDMA 5.74 USD
and GSM 8.89 USD).
Indian land area covered by mobile networks is approx 30%. CAGR of Mobile Market Value
for 2004- 2009 is 36.9%.With 156.31 million cell phones; teledensity in the country is still
low at 17.45%. Fewer than eight in every 100Indians use mobiles, compared with China's 30
per cent. In India, about 13percent of people have cell phones which has increased from 8%
in 2005 and isexpectedto reach 40 percent within a few years. A lack of investment in
theinfrastructure needed to support landline services means there are only 50million fixed-
line users in the country, leaving the stage set for mobile operators.India is expected to have
the third largest mobile user base, behind China andthe US, by the year end and will become
the second largest market of mobilehandsets by 2010. Indian cellular market would account
for 11% of the overall Asia Pacific and Japan market by 2009 and is expected to reach 500
million subscribers by end of 2010 withCAGR of 33.7% for 2004- 201

Consumer Buying Behavior

 Everybody in the world is the consumer. Each of us buys and sells or consumes goods
and services in the life. Consumer behavior is very complex and is determined to a large
extent by social and psychological factors. Consumer behavior can be defined as those
acts of individuals directly involved in obtaining, using and disposing of economic goods
and services.
 The relevance and importance of understanding consumer behavior is rooted in the
modern marketing. The needs of not even two consumers are the same. Therefore, they
buy only those products and services, which satisfy their wants and desires. To survive in
the market, a firm has to be constantly innovating and understand the latest consumer
needs and tastes it will be extremely useful in exploiting marketing opportunities and in
meeting the challenges that the Indian market offers. A study of consumer behavior is
significant for regulating consumption of goods and thereby maintaining economic
stability. Within the broad framework of marketing, the area that entices the most
researchers is the study why a consumer behaves in a particular way. The complexity of
the behavior , however, varies with the nature of the product and the need, which it is
required to satisfy. The study of consumer behavior is the study of how individuals make
decisions to spend their available resources on consumption of related items.
 Consumer behavior is an applied discipline. Its application exists at two different levels of
analysis. One is at the micro level perspective and other at the macro level perspective.
Micro level seeks application of the knowledge faced by the individual, firm or an
 organization. The macro perspective applied knowledge of consumer includes the
aggregate level of problem faced by large groups or by society as a whole.
 Consumer behavior provides a sound basis for identifying and understanding consumer
needs. It is the act of the individuals directly involved in obtaining and using economic
goods and services
 The study of consumer behavior is an essential component of marketing. The adoption of
marketing concept by the marketers provides the impetus for the study of consumer
behavior.
 In case of New Product Introduction in the market, there is a risk of product failure. To
increase the chances of success of new products, better information of the consumer
behavior is required. Their desires, tastes and preferences are to be taken care of. So from
all these aspects the study of consumer behavior is important.
 Personal Selling:
In the past few tutorials we saw how marketers can use advertising, sales promotion
and public relations to reach a large number of customers. While these methods of promotion
offer many advantages, they each share one major disadvantage: they are a non-personal form
of communication. And whether a company is in retailing or manufacturing, sells goods or
services, is a large multinational or a local startup, is out to make a profit or is a non-profit, in
all probability at some point they will need to rely on personal contact with customers. In
other words, they will need to promote using personal selling. Unfortunately, personal selling
is widely misunderstood. For instance, many customers think salespeople possess traits that
include being manipulative, arrogant, aggressive and greedy. While many marketers believe
salespeople are only out to make a quick sale intended to increase their income and that they
often do this by making unscrupulous deals undermining the marketer’s attempt to build
strong brands. While there certainly are some salespeople that fit these descriptions, today the
most successful salespeople are those who work hard to understand their customers’ needs
with the ultimate goal of ensuring that customer’s needs are satisfied at a high level. And,
more importantly, personal selling holds a key role in the promotional activities of a large
number of organizations. In fact, in the business market where one company sells products to
another company, money spent to support the selling function far exceeds spending on
advertising. In this part of our highly detailed Principles of Marketing Tutorials, we begin a
two-part look at personal selling. We will continue our coverage of personal selling in the
next tutorial when we discuss the selling process used to obtain a customer order.
Advantages of Personal Selling:
One key advantage personal selling has over other promotional methods is that it is a two-
way form of communication. In selling situations the message sender (e.g., salesperson) can
adjust the message as they gain feedback from message receivers (e.g., customer). So if a
customer does not understand the initial message (e.g., doesn’t fully understand how the
product works) the salesperson can make adjustments to address questions or concerns. Many
non-personal forms of promotion, such as a radio advertisement, are inflexible, at least in the
short-term, and cannot be easily adjusted to address audience questions.
The interactive nature of personal selling also makes it the most effective promotional
method for building relationships with customers, particularly in the business-to-business
market. This is especially important for companies that either sell expensive products or sell
lower cost but high volume products (i.e., buyer must purchase in large quantities) that rely
heavily on customers making repeat purchases. Because such purchases may take a
considerable amount of time to complete and may involve the input of many people at the
purchasing company (i.e., buying center), sales success often requires the marketer develop
and maintain strong relationships with members of the purchasing company.
Finally, personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who
are not easily reached through other methods. The best example is in selling to the business
market where, compared to the consumer market, advertising, public relations and sales
promotions are often not well received.

Objectives of Personal Selling:

Personal selling is used to meet the five objectives of promotion in the following ways:
· Building Product Awareness – A common task of salespeople, especially when selling in
business markets, is to educate customers on new product offerings. In fact, salespeople serve
a major role at industry trades shows (see the Sales Promotion tutorial) where they discuss
products with show attendees. But building awareness using personal selling is also important
in consumer markets. As we will discuss, the advent of controlled word-of-mouth marketing
is leading to personal selling becoming a useful mechanism for introducing consumers to new
products.
· Creating Interest – The fact that personal selling involves person-to-person
communication makes it a natural method for getting customers to experience a product for
the first time. In fact, creating interest goes hand-in-hand with building product awareness as
sales professionals can often accomplish both objectives during the first encounter with a
potential customer.
· Providing Information – When salespeople engage customers a large part of the
conversation focuses on product information. Marketing organizations provide their sales
staff with large amounts of sales support including brochures, research reports, computer
programs and many other forms of informational material.
· Stimulating Demand – By far, the most important objective of personal selling is to
convince customers to make a purchase. In The Selling Process tutorial we will see how
salespeople accomplish this when we offer detailed coverage of the selling process used to
gain customer orders.
· Reinforcing the Brand – Most personal selling is intended to build long-term relationships
with customers. A strong relationship can only be built over time and requires regular
communication with a customer. Meeting with customers on a regular basis allows
salespeople to repeatedly discuss their company’s products and by doing so helps strengthen
customers’ knowledge of what the company has to offer.

Nature of Personal Selling:

Gives marketers:
· The greatest freedom to adjust a message to satisfy customers informational needs,
dynamic.
· Most precision, enabling marketers to focus on most promising leads. vs. advertising,
publicity and sales promotion
· Give more information
· Two way flow of information, interactivity.
· Discover the strengths and weaknesses of new products and pass this information on to the
marketing department.
· Highest cost. Businesses spend more on personal selling than on any other form of
promotional mix.
· Goals range from
· finding prospects
· convincing prospects to buy
· keeping customers satisfied--help them pass the word along.

Types of Sales Persons:

· Order Takers
Seek repeat sales, make certain that customers have sufficient product quantities where and
when they need it. Do not require extensive sales effort. Arrange displays, restocks them,
answer phone calls. Low compensation, little training required. High turnover of personnel. 2
types:
· Inside Order Takers receive orders by mail/phone, sales person in a retail store.
· Field Order Takers travel to customers. Use laptop computers to improve tracking of
inventory and orders etc.
· Order Getters
Sell to new customers and increase sales to present customers, sometimes called creative
selling. Generate customer leads, provide information, persuading customers and closing
sales. Required for high priced, complex and/or new products. High pressure, requires
expensive, time
consuming training.
· Support Personnel
Facilitate the selling function. Primarily business to business products.
· Missionary Salespeople Distribute information regarding new goods or services,
describes attributes and leaves materials, does not close sales. Assist producers'
customers in selling to their own customers. IE call on retailers and persuade them to
carry the product. Pharmaceuticals may go to doctors offices and persuade them to carry
their products.
· Trade Salespeople May perform order taking function as well. Spend much time helping
customers, especially retail stores, to promote the product. Restock the shelves, set up
displays. Technical Salespersons Offer technical assistance to current customers.
Usually trained engineers etc.
· Service Salespeople interacts with customers after sale is complete.
Team selling...entire team of selling professionals in selling to and servicing major
customers,
especially when specialized knowledge is needed to satisfy different interests in customers'
buying centers.

Elements of the Personal Selling Process:

salespersons use exactly the same sales method, but it is generally a seven step process:
· Prospecting and Evaluating
Seek names of prospects through sales records, referrals etc., also responses to
advertisements. Need to evaluate if the person is able (Undergraduate degree to attend a
graduate program), willing and authorized to buy. Blind prospecting-rely on phone directory
etc.
· Preapproach (Preparing)
Review key decision makers esp. for business to business, but also family
· assess credit histories
· prepare sales presentations
· identify product needs.
Helps present the presentation to meet the prospects needs.
· Approaching the Customer
Manner in which the sales person contacts the potential customer. First impression of the
sales person is Lasting and therefore important. Strive to develop a relationship rather than
just push the product. Can be based on referrals, cold calling or repeat contact.
· Making the Presentation
Need to attract and hold the prospects Attention to stimulate Interest and stir up Desire in the
product so the potential customer takes the appropriate Action. AIDA Try to get the prospect
to touch, hold or try the product. Must be able to change the presentation to meet the prospect
needs.
Three types of presentations:
· Stimulus Response Format: Appropriate stimulus will initiate a buy decision, use one
appeal after another hoping to hit the right button...Counter Clerk @ McDonald's
"Would you like fries with your burger?"
· Formula Selling Format: (Canned Sales Presentation) memorized, repetitive, given to
all customers interested in a specific product. Good for inexperienced sales people.
Better with heavily advertised items that are presold. Telemarketing a credit card!!
· Need Satisfaction Format: Based on the principal that each customer has a different set
of needs/desires., therefore the sales presentation should be adapted to the individual
customer's needs, this is a key advantage of personal selling vs. advertising. Sales person asks
questions first, then makes the presentation accordingly. Need to do homework, listen well
and allow customers to talk etc. Must answer two types of questions:
· for more information
· overcome objections.
Overcoming Objections
Seek out objections and address them. Anticipate and counter them before the prospect can
raise them. Try to avoid bringing up objections that the prospect would not have raised.
Price objection is the most common Need to provide customers with reasons for the $s, build
up the value before price is mentioned Must be convinced of price in own mind before you
can sell to customer. Get budget info. on buyer before you try to sell, and must know what
they want, must sell service on top of product augmented product--to create value!!
Must know value of product, provide warranties etc.!!
· Closing
Ask prospect to buy product/products. Use trial closes, IE ask about financial terms, preferred
method of delivery.
The following are popular closing techniques:
· Trial Close (Minor decision close)
· Assumptive close (Implied consent close)
· Urgency close
· Ask for the sale close
If prospect says no, they may just need more reasons to buy!!
· Following Up
Must follow up sale, determine if the order was delivered on time, installation OK etc. Also
helps determine the prospects future needs. Accomplishes four objectives:
· customer gain short term satisfaction
· referrals are stimulated
· in the long run, repurchase
· prevent cognitive dissonance
Old school, sell and leave!!--Quickly before customer changes her mind!!
Now:
· Stay a few minutes after sale--reinforce, make them feel good, made wise choice, leave
small gift (with co. name on it!!), call office at any time etc!!
· Follow up, reinforce, know birthdays, new year etc, friendly
correspondence...relationship building!!

Objectives:

1) To examine the role of sales personnel in purchasing hand set.

2) To assess the impact of personal selling in buying process of hand set.
Scope of the study;

The scope of the study is to get the first hand knowledge about Influence of personal selling
on buying behavior towards handsets at the point of purchase towards in Vijayawada town.

Literature Review :

According into the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Finland

University of Oulu.( Heikki Karjaluoto is Research Professor in Marketing.Jari Karvonen is
Researcher in Marketing. Manne Kesti is Researcher in Marketing.Timo Koivumäki is
Professor in Marketing. Marjukka Manninen is Researcher in Economics.Jukka Pakola is
Researcher in Economics.Annu Ristola is Researcher in Marketing and Jari Salo is
Researcher in Marketing) they stated that
“Mobile phone markets are one of the most turbulent market environments today due to
increased competition and change. Thus, it is of growing concern to look at consumer buying
decision process and cast light on the factors that finally determine consumer choices
between different mobile phone brands. On this basis, this article deals with consumers’
choice criteria in mobile phone markets by studying factors that influence intention to acquire
new mobile phones on one hand and factors that influence on mobile phone change on the
other”

In the other research,This exploratory study was conducted to increase our current
understanding of the mobile phone market in general and analyse consumer decision making
in particular. The study attempted to cast light on the much unexamined area of mobile phone
purchase , operator choice, and use of mobile phone services. The main results of the study
indicate the following. First of all, the age of purchasing a mobile phone among young Finns
has lowered in just a few years from 18-19 to 14-15. Secondly, the factors underlying
purchase of a mobile phone were found to be manufacturer, market conditions and influential
persons. For the choice of operator the factors were found to be features and brand,
components in pricing, quality, and influential person

in the other research, Jagwinder singh, Dept. of Management, Ambedkar National

Institute of Technology,Deemed University he said that the objective of the study was to
understand the variation in the importance given by different age and gender groups to the
select factors while buying mobile handsets in India. The study concludes that the mobile
handset users of age group of 18-30 years are less price sensitive than consumers of other
groups; rather they consider ‘physical appearance’, ‘brand’, ‘value added features’, and ‘core
technical features’ more important than users of any other age groups. On the contrary, the
consumers of age group 50 years and above have given greater importance to ‘price’ than
consumers of other age groups. There were significant differences between different age
groups as regards to the importance given to all the factors except ‘post - purchase services’.
The difference was highest for the ‘brand’ closely followed by ‘core technical features’ of the
handset. Gender differences have also existed for these factors.

A OVERVIEW OF THE RESEARCH PLANNED AND EXPECTED OUTCOMES

In this study, my hypothesis there is an influence on the consumer while purchasing the
mobile because sales person changes the mindset of customers purchasing the mobile
phone and sales person continuely to influence choice of mobile phone. And to
understanding the buying behavior of the cutomers In order to prove this, I have prepared a
questionnaire, after getting the response / outcomes from the customers I would like to
conclude the outcome or the result from the respond customers

PROGRESS OF THE THESIS

Firstly, I learned / studied about the mobile phone industry and market shares of
different brands through websites and other text books. I also learned the objectives of my
study and worked accordingly. I have gathered Articles related to my study and
acknowledged their ideas about their comparative studies. In order to analyze my study, I
have prepared a questionnaire and decided to work / get response from the customers

BENEFITS

 We can find the influence of sales personnal role while purchasing a mobile hand set
  We can also know , which features in a particular brand are preferred by the mobile
phone users

IMPACT OF THE STUDY

The present study focused on the role of sale personal in buying process at point of
purchase of handsets The outcome of the study provides input for personal selling in the areas
of mobile phones and the consumer responds towards mobile phones

A STUDY ON INFLUENCE OF PERSONAL SELLING ON BUYING PROCESS

TOWARDS MOBILE PHONES AT POINT OF PURCHASE IN VIJAYAWADA
TOWN

Questionnaire

Name :

Gender : (MALE / FEMALE)

Age :

Education : SSC Intermediate

Degree PG and above

Profession :

income : <10,000 10,000-20,000

20,000-30,000 above 30,000

1) Which brand mobile you would like to buy in the market?

Nokia

Sony ericsson

Micro max

LG
 Samsung

Onida

China mobiles

Other plz specify (..........................................)

2) Which of the following factors you considered while choosing the mobile hand
set? (Can tick more than one option)

Price
Appearance
Brand image
Features
Easy to carry
Repairable
Availability of services

3) Does the sales person help you make a decision to purchase the mobile
phone?

Yes

No

4) Does the sales person showing certain brands only?

Yes

No

5) Does the sales person mentioned some things I had not considered?

Yes

No

6) How much the sales person does really did change your mind about buying
the mobile phone?
 More

Above average

Average

No

7) How much the opinion of sales person will continue to influence your choice
about buying the mobile phone?

More

Above average

Average

No

Thank you
References:

Books :

1. Leon G Schiffman ad Kanuk, consumer Behaviour, 9th Edition, PHI – New Delhi

2. Engel J F, Consumer behaviour in Marketing, Engelwoodcliffs, PHI – New Jersy

3. C.R Kothari: Research Methodology Methods & Techniques, 2/e, Vishwa Prakashan,
2009.
4. Glotz, Peter & Bertsch, Stefan, eds. Thumb Culture: The Meaning of Mobile Phones
for Society, 2005

Web page references :

http://www.where2getit.com/media.../ConsumerBuyingProcess
browsed on 09-10-2010

http://www.hotmake.info/.../mobile/a-step-by-step-process-for-buying-iphone-
accessories-and-cell-phone-accessories-online/
browsed on 09-10-2010

http://www.articlesbase.com/leadership-articles/the-four-major-trends-in-mobile-phone-
industry-2126861.html#ixzz15PFbC8ou
browsed on 10-10-2010
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/31550174/Study-of-Consumer-Buying-Behavior-regarding-
the- different-Brands-of-Mobile-Handsets

browsed on 11-10-2010
Journals

1.Journal of Consumer Behaviour – John Wiley and Sons