The Analysis of the Relationship between the User’s Preference and the Smartphone Design

Abstract

In contemporary society, there is a growing complexity to the consumer purchase paths of mobile electronics as the market of smartphones becomes increasingly saturated. When customers face various smartphone brands, many factors are considered. Thus, this research aims to explore the relationship between product design and customer preference. By analyzing two cases, this paper would indicate that the key to a successful smartphone model is to identify the customers' demand at the design stage. On the other hand, such a conclusion also raises new problems for smartphone manufacturers. Indeed, a product that meets all customers' needs will help the company acquire a higher market share. But from the perspective of the smartphone designers, many factors have to be considered before they design the new smartphone model since they are also responsible for making the most revenue possible for the company. Balancing the product's profitability with the customer's needs is the eternal challenge that manufacturing companies and smartphone designers face. For instance, how to reduce the marginal cost in production while providing customers with new products they would like to buy? This paper will analyze two successful customer-oriented smartphone companies, Oneplus and Apple, with The Five product levels mode. Most importantly, the knowledge gained from this paper intends to assist smartphone designers and manufacturing companies in producing a product that wins high market share by meeting customers' expectations in features while gathering profit. 1.INTRODUCTION This paper is inspired by the findings of the paper, Smartphone Brands Design and Buying Decisions, which was written by N Dospinescu and DB Florea. According to the conclusion of Dospinescu and Florea's research, the smartphone's features had a significant impact on customers' purchasing decisions [1]. With the advent of smartphones, two of the most critical factors that affect the consumer decision-making process are price and demand. In other words, customers pay the most attention to whether the product is what they need and whether the product is affordable. However, the study, The Analysis of Purchasing Decisions and Brand Loyalty for Smartphone Consumers, conveyed that the price was not the deciding factor because it found that only 33% of the respondents would choose the one with a lower price between two different smartphone models even if 85% of them agreed that the price would be one factor considered [2]. Compared with price, different design features played more critical roles in arousing customers' desire to purchase the product since 85% of respondents indicated that they would compare the features difference between various smartphone models before purchasing [2]. These features included internal functions (89% of respondents), user-friendly operation interface (87% of respondents), battery life (89% of respondents), and the exterior design (85% of respondents) [2]. 2.PURPOSE OF THE STUDY This study aims to analyze the intersection of the smartphone features design and customers' demands by solving the following four questions.