Impact of Psycho-Demographic Factors on Smartphone Purchase Decisions

Abstract

The success of e-commerce depends significantly on having an understanding of online consumer decision making and behavior. The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of psycho-demographic factors on the purchasing decisions taken by young technology-literate consumers while purchasing smartphones. We used a structured questionnaire to collect data from a random sample of senior bachelor level students across a sample frame of international universities with online programs located in the USA and India. Nonparametric statistical techniques, such as Chi-square test of independence, cluster analysis, Spearman correlation, logistic regression, and discriminant analysis were used for testing the hypotheses. The three hypotheses on the association between gender, age, and income level were rejected while the remaining two hypotheses on the association of ethnicity and psycho-demographic factors were supported. The findings of this study will assist marketing managers in targeting segments of young technology-literate online consumers intending to purchase smartphones.