OBSERVING CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR OF MALES

We the students of consumer behavior were given the assignment named, observe the consumer behavior of males by our respected teacher Ms SANA SHEIKH, who taught us with her excellent teaching skills and guided us in this assignment on the problems we faced during this activity. In this assignment, we were asked to observe the consumer behavior of males and for that we were suppose to observe three major things: First: The ambiance and physical surroundings of the retail outlet that how it appeals to the males. Second: Observe the employees and the sales staff that how they are behaving or serving their customers. Is their gender congruent with the customers? Third: Observe the buying behavior of the customers, their searching behavior, interactions with employees, whether they are shopping alone or in a group and how much they spend. After observing all the above-defined stages, we have to write a detailed description of our experience, questions that we asked the employees and customers and the conclusion that we have drawn. For this project I selected a mobile service retail outlet, UNITED MOBILES. It incorporated in 2001 and is the authorized and leading focused Nokia distributors in Pakistan, obtained ISO 90001 certification in 2005. They provide customer services online, on phone and on outlets too. I went to the gulshan branch of United Mobiles for my assignment, which is a 15-minute drive away from my place. In the initial stage of the project, I thought I couldnt complete it because there was so much to observe and spending only 2 hours in the outlet wasnt enough for me and also the city conditions were pathetic then But due to the immense support and dedication of our teacher, we are finally done with it ALHAMDULILLAH. I went to the outlet and observed consumers that what they like? What they prefer? What appeals them? How much they spend on a single visit? What they want from UM? And so on. I interviewed the male consumer and the sales staff too. Many of the consumers were in a hurry because of the RAMAZAN and some consumers were tempered too because of the reason that they were fasting and were stuck in some mobile related problems. So they behaved aggressively but the staff of the UM is well trained and professional and they didnt showed up any anger instead they gave more time to such customers and solved their mobile related problems, which is appreciate-able and its their USP. Now here I present my report in detail in the following pages. Firstly theres a little information about the company and its address and then follows the observation and the conclusion.

CORPORATE PROFILE

United Mobile incorporated in 2001 is the authorized and leading focused Nokia distributors in Pakistan, obtained ISO 90001 certification in 2005. United Mobile is managing the leadership role in the areas of wholesalers, retailers, Corporate Customers, Care Centres etc. in all major cities of Pakistan. In order to cater need of its valued dealers in all provinces in Pakistan, company is managing its warehouses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad for effective distribution. To extend proactive customer services to its value customer company has opened 18 Care Centre in 14 major cities of Pakistan with the help of Nokia. All Customer Care Centers are fully equipped and manned by trained & professional staff. While celebrating its 10 years of Success, reliability and trust among customers, company will continue to strengthen its relationship with Nokia with commitments to bridging the gap between Nokia and its valued customers. Time and again, company extends trade offers, consumer promotions, dealers & retailers schemes through out the year benefiting both trade and consumers. United Mobile key to success is its policy of price protection for both retailers & wholesalers. As and when price is revised the stock in hand is protected. New product launches through its valued trade partners, give United Mobile an edge over others in this business in Pakistan. United Mobiles Service department is dedicated to producing fast and reliable customer services to its valued customers with the help of Nokia Care team. Fully equipped state of the art care centers are manned by professionally trained, courteous support staff working under ISO certified standard. The service centers are all self financed and have the capability to repair 90% of the faults in addition to servicing all cellular equipment. With manufacturers support, the company is now able to do advance repairs of Mobile handsets. United Mobile believes in offering prompt and effective technical support and services along with complete customer satisfaction.

VISION & MISSION

Mission
United Mobile is determined to extend its services for mobile Phones and telecom solution by improving the quality of life of its customers, while continue improvement in its customer care.

Vision
To be the best Mobile phone suppliers in the region and enhance its business relationship with internal & external customers.

UNITED MOBILE OUTLETS

United Mobile has re-launched its chain of retail outlets giving it a brand new identity under the name of UM Outlet. These retail outlets will focus on core product and extended service needs of the valued customers by offering them. * Complete Range of Cell Phones of all recognized brands * Personalized Service in Modern Ambience * Company Controlled Prices & Backup Support * Peace of Mind In order to facilitate customers with easy access to these retail outlets, United Mobile endeavors to expand its network of UM outlets throughout the country in the shortest possible time with more valued added features in the future.

UNITED MOBILES AS SPONSORS:

United Mobile sponsored Cricket Dhoom 20, on Apr 2011. They also held games and quizzes and in the give aways they had nokia sets for the winners.

UM ADDRESS AND WEBSITE:

They have their official website which is well maintained and also solve customer problems online. For this they have placed their contact numbers and address and email address too which is as follows:

Email address
For General Queries: info@unitedmobile.com.pk contactus@unitedmobile.com.pk

For Customer Services Complains: complain.cell1@unitedmobile.com.pk complain.cell2@unitedmobile.com.pk

Office.Address
10th Floor Star City Mall, Opposite Bambino Cinema Abdullah Haroon Road, Saddar Karachi . Tel:(92-21) 32294209-212 Fax (92-21) 32294402

OBSERVING THE PHYSICAL SURROUNDINGS AND AMBIANCE:

The moment the customer decides where to go for mobile solutions, there come many sources of information (i.e. they obtain information from friends, family, news, media etc) and many other factors (i.e. nearest branch, the credibility of the company, the customer facilities, the packages, the car parking facility and so on) in the mind of the customers. Customer enters in to the consumer decision process when he recognizes a need. Many consumers visit UM because of the word of mouth that their service is good and is far better than many others in the same industry. Although united mobiles dont have many branches in Karachi but their existing branches are operating in posh areas and where law and order situation is good. Ambiance appeals the opposite gender and they enjoy looking at the interior of the outlet too. The comfortable sofas, soft n smooth carpet, the combination of the wall paint which was red and white in the inside of the outlet, the beautiful Italian lights and fountain, the fresh aroma of jasmine flower sprayed and the centrally air conditioned outlet all these physical surroundings results in a peaceful environment and consumer makes a wise purchase decision in such comfortable environment. Male consumers opt for UM because of their good credibility, they have gained good reputation through word of mouth, and because they provide maximum satisfaction to their customers by providing them with the customer solutions. UMs physical surrounding is worth appreciating and praising. They have displayed mobile sets in sequence, which is differentiating one brand with the other. They have displayed Nokia sets separely, Samsung, Apple and Sony Ericsson in a separate display shelves. They also had limited Blackberry sets and with all these sets they give oneyear warranty absolutely free. In this service they will repair any faults in the handset and tries to provide the customers with maximum solutions to their needs and problems. They have also placed magazines and science technology papers and magazines on the center table. So that if consumers are accompanying with their friends, they can go through these magazines and can get useful information regarding science and technology. While observing the physical surroundings, my eyes went on the wall hangings, where framed pictures from a recent event were hanging. The company sponsored an event, which was a success. I saw that there was very good security system in the UM office. The security guard keeps an eye everywhere and the hidden cameras were placed in the outlet. All this was appealing so and me to the male consumers as well.

OBSERVING THE EMPLOYEES:

This is an era of customer service. Customer service has become very crucial and important now days. No business can run without it. Some people look for only good customer service that how does the staff behaves or serves the male gender. How nicely they deal with them and how keen they are with their customers? When I was in the outlet, there were three employees in all. One at the counter, dealing with the consumers as cashier and the other two moving and assisting consumers. One thing that I observe in the staff behavior was the Hear-to-Help Concept which was very impressive. The employees were friendly, ready to help the consumers in selecting a mobile set and solving the faults that the device might have caused to the consumer. They maintained their eye contact with the consumers, were patient, heard their problems, solving flaws with a smile on their face. The staff also takes care of the aged people who accompanied with the male consumers by providing them space to sit and asking tea or coffee and voluntarily asking about more facilities. They also took feedback from the consumers by asking them questions and by asking them to fill in a feedback form and drop it in the comment box. I saw the staff personnel dealing so friendly with the customer. Although the consumer made his first visit to the outlet and was a married man and was a potential consumer because there were 50% chances of making a purchase decision. The consumer asked the employee to show him a touch screen phone with large LCD, and which has a good camera result. The staff person showed him a Nokia set which has all these features but then again he asked for a more sophisticated handset which has multimedia applications and fast internet access and should not be high priced. The employee showed him a recent Nokia set. Then again he asked for a set that should be in silver colour and again the employee guided him that the set that he is demanding is in a stainless steel casing. He helped him understand that Its cover should not be made of stainless steel because that consumes lots of battery and excessive charging damages the battery life and the handset too. I wondered how keenly the employee was interested in helping the consumer without any reason! When he was done with selling, he guided the consumer o use the handset for the next three days and if he finds any problem, can contact UM 24 hours online and on phone. And if the consumer didnt find the handset worth owning and didnt feel comfortable owning it, then according to the UM policy, they can return the product without any delay and their money will be refunded.

BUYING BEHAVIOR OF CUSTOMERS:

I observed that there were three kinds of customers in the outlet that came during my stay:

1. Students 2. Married man 3. Business persons STUDENTS: This group consists of youth. Young men mostly visit the outlet when finishing off with their coaching centers. They usually do window-shopping and absorb information about the latest trends and upgrading in mobile phones. This group is not a potential market. They dont have buying power but they want to see the product by taking it in hands n feeling the pleasure of owning it for a few moments. Only 10-15% of this class buys a product the rest of the class visits UM in form of a group that are not serious buyers. MARRIED MAN: These people are the potential customers because they are not predecide customers. They come to the mobile outlet, sees the phone, checks its features, examine the phone, ask about the companys after purchase policy, then they decide a purchase. It consists of 55-60% of the population. The company focuses on this market more than the other two types of customers. These consumers shop in groups, particularly with families or friends. While the man was choicing a product, his friend suggested him to go for something new and trendy. He suggested him to buy either one of the two i.e. iphone 3Gs or Nokia N8. They discussed about both the sets features, their reliability, price, Internet, wi-fi, touch screen, camera results etc. after detailed discussion and with the help and guidance of the employee, the man compared both the sets. In the mean while, the employee gave his input and tried every possible effort to convince him to but a product that best matches his preferences and expectations. BUSINESS PERSONS: They have in mind what they have to buy. These consumers are professionals and are usually busy. They dont have time to spend hours in a outlet to make a purchase. These consumers are pre-decided customers. Almost 30% of the population comes under these consumers. They are high-class people. Money doesnt matter them. They decide everything on Internet and with in 10 minutes they can purchase a mobile. They arent potential customers; they are rather regular customers and are loyal. These people search for smart phones or phones which is an answer to all their business needs. E.g. Blackberry.

INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH THE CONSUMERS:

Q) Why do you tend to choose united mobile only?

Customer 1= because they are trust worthy and their customer service is appreciate-able. Customer 2= because I have seen united mobile has sponsored some major events and I have heard positive words about it from peers. Customer 3= because they are the genuine distributor of Nokia. I believe its reliable just like Nokia. Customer 4= because of its customer service. Once you step in to the outlet, you will definitely make a purchase decision, no matter if you havent planned a purchase. Q) What would you say about the ambiance of the outlet? Customer 1= its fascinating! I am impressed that they have maintained good environment since its inception and yet improving it. Customer 2= the interior of the outlet is very appealing. It adds success to the outlet. Customer 3= its attractive and eye catching. You will probably love the way they have displayed their products. Customer 4= I am not that concerned about the ambiance. To me it doesnt matter. Q) Are you satisfied with their service? Customer 1= yes, absolutely! Its a relief that somebody reliable is there to mend any fault in the product after the purchase. Customer 2= yes. UM is a solution to all my mobile needs. Their service is beyond imagination. Customer 3= I am satisfied with the service and the friendly behavior of the staff too. They are professional and serve their customers at heart. Customer 4= I believe they are far better than others in the same line. Q) What makes your purchase decision die in heart when choicing a product or service? Customer 1= no, it has never happened to me. I always come here pre-decided. Customer 2= depends on trends, features, and price. Customer 3= applications, touch LCD and brand. Customer 4= ofcourse price! Or else I would have purchased an N8. Q) Any change you want to see or any advice for UN? All the customers were of the view that UM should expand its network and should frequently advertise more about their brand and products/services.

QUESTIONS TO EMPLOYEE:
Q) What consumers demand in a phone now-a-days?

Consumers demand large screen phones with atleast 2 mega pixel camera or HD Camera, FM radio, internet support, good and loud music sound, easy typing etc. theres more demand of phones that suppoet high speed internet services and with great apps. Nokia 5230 is in great demand because it has all the features and is affordable too. Q) Which factor matters them most in buying? Price and smart looks with great features. Q) What problems customer face after the purchase? We have mostly seen that customer bring their sets and having problems with applications in smart phones that arent supported in Pakistan and they also come with their broken LCDs and viruses etc. Q) How much time each customer take in selecting a phone? Majority takes more than 45 minutes and some take even more than that. Q) Who are potential consumers according to you? Married man who come in groups because they are not pre-decided consumers.

CONCLUSION:

The consumer enters in to the consumer decision process once he has recognized the need. Then he will search for information (be it internal or external) then he will move on to the third stage that is pre-purchase evaluation of alternatives. After this he will purchase a product or service. Stage 6 consists of the post-consumption evaluation. That either he is satisfied or dissatisfied? Then he will enter in to the final stage of the CDP that is divestment, in which he will sell his product or service to some other people. Observing the male consumer behavior gives us the result that males are more serious buyers than females. Once they enter in a shop to purchase something, they will buy from there unlike females. They spend hours and even waste days in selecting a product/service. Males consider all the factors that can effect their buying such as cost, reliability, customer service, after purchase policy, environment, dealing, bargain, etc. Male consumers sees everything practically and o them they will consider that product which has same features but minor price difference because of the brand name, so they will opt for the less expensive one. Marketers should focus on customer service and consumer satisfaction more than bringing out a new product everyday. They should improve the quality of their existing product or service which gives value to the customer and should control the price.