Factors in Buying Another Mobile Phone Brand
Jaap de Jonge, Management Consultant, Netherlands
I am not an expert, but I have a few observations from practice. Some factors are:
- Presence/lack of technical barriers. A clear example is Apple with its iPhones. Because the operating system on which they run ("iOS") is proprietary to Apple, if you would like to switch from Apple to another brand it automatically means you have to change all apps you are using and you have a big job to convert your data. So you are not likely to switch. If you switch from one Android phone brand to another this would not be the case as they all use the same apps.
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Advertising /
Positioning: if a manufacturer is able to put some nice feelings about their brand in your mind, you are less likely to switch.
- Curiosity: out of curiosity you may switch to another brand or type, just to see what it is.
- Decreasing
life cycle: Because phones only last for a few years, you have more switching moments, so you are more likely to switch at one of these moments.
- Fashion: some brand may be more fashionable than others at a certain moment in some market(s), region or globally. This is heavily influenceable by advertising.
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Word of Mouth Advertising: if a friend is enthusiastic about some brand you may also be interested in it.
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Opinion Leaders: Some individuals (opinion leaders) are believed to be able to repeatedly persuade and influence other people's behaviors according to her/his own preferences.
- Killer app: sometimes a particular phone brand may have a "killer app": an app that is crucial or very attractive to certain consumers but that is only available on a particular phone brand.
- Technical specs: Some mobile phones might have superior technicals specs in one area or the other. For example a superb camera might be attractive to certain people.
See also
Persuasion Theory,
Framing… The list is almost endless😃. Go here for a comprehensive list of
marketing methods… Hope this helps.
