Features to Be Consider Before Buying Mobile Phone Among Generation Y

The widespread use of mobile phones, the various information access means that it provided to its users, and the vast presence and significant impact of mobile phone on users’ daily life make mobile phones important devices to study (Safiek and Azizul, 2012).

In 2001, mobile phone subscriptions were less than a billion worldwide with the majority of the subscriptions from the developed countries. However, at the end of 2010, mobile phone subscriptions had reached five International Review of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vol. 2, No.

(2012), 203-212 Among various contemporary mobile communication technologies, the mobile phone is regarded as ‘‘the most radiative domestic appliance ever invented’’ (Coghill, 2001, p. 28). There has been increasing number of people who pursue new life style of working, communicating, and playing games through smartphone to the extent of emerging consumer group who “starts a day with smartphone and wraps up with smartphone”. As smartphone app business is growing rapidly, many studies about Appstore platform or apps development have been conducted.

However, despite of agent need, the research about factors affecting choosing and purchasing application by Smartphone users has not conducted yet.

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During the period from Feb. 2010 to Feb. 2011, on an average around 20,000 applications were registered in Appstore, USAand 18,000 application were registered in Android Market during same period (Lee, et al, 2012). The widespread utilization of mobile phones in communication and information transfer leads to exponential improvement in mobile phone technology.

To meet users’ information needs, innovative features and applications are continuously being added to mobile phones to make them perform many more new functions (Safiek and Azizul, 2012). Despite the growing importance of mobile phone technology there has, to date, been relatively little research on consumers’ evaluation of the importance of mobile phone attributes, particularly in the Malaysian context. Therefore, in this study, we investigated how features of Smartphone affect the Buying decision of Smartphone by Generation Y.

Malaysia is chosen as the setting of this study because of its position as an emerging economy in Asia that has seen a tremendous growth in its mobile phone market, both in terms of penetration rate and airtime use. According to Business Monitor International (2011), Malaysian mobile phones sales accounted for about 66% of consumer electronics spending in 2010. The number of mobile phone users in Malaysia is estimated at 33. 9 million in 2010 and by the year of 2015, it will reach 40 million (Safiek and Azizul, 2012).

Some of the key trends and development in Malaysian mobile telecommunication industry are related to the growing popularity of smartphones among Malaysian consumers. IDC ASEAN telecommunication research reported that Apple iPhone, with its edition of 3G and 3GS, has gained an increasing market share with about 91,000 units sold until March 2010 (Safiek and Azizul, 2012). Likewise, Blackberry is also reported to have sold more than 100,000 units in 2009 (Sidhu, 2010). 2. BACKGROUND OF STUDY 1. Generation Y

Generation Y nowadays have increasing in number and also have influences in today smartphone market which leads to business people to grabs this opportunities in selling their products to maximize profit. Generation Y is widely known as the generation born between 1980 and 2000. This generation is confident, independent, and goal-oriented. Although, technology advances began in the Gen X era, Generation Y was born into technology and often knows more about the digital world than their teachers and parents.

The enhanced technological knowledge has launched this generation into an era that is accessible everywhere to anyone. Gen Y has high self-esteem; they are the trophy generation that allows every child to get a medal or praise, leaving no one behind (Meier. J, et al, 2010). Other definition of Generation Y are known by many names: the millennials; the iPod generation; the me ? rsts; the internet generation; the echo boomers; the Nintendo generation; the digital generation; generation why; generation next; the I generation and the next generation. This article speci? ally refers to Generation Y as those individuals born after 1981. Other than being de? ned by their year of birth, who are they? Some common themes can be drawn from the existing literature, relating to their formative years, attitudes to work and relationships with others (Paine. C and Honore. S, 2010). 2. Technology Savvy There has been debate over the past decade about the younger generation that has grown up with technology and the extent to which this impacts on learning approaches. Widespread consensus among educators is that digital technologies have given rise to a new generation of learner.

Growing up with internet access and other digital technologies, it is argued, has transformed approaches to education and training (Kren Becker, et al, 2012) Frand (2000) offered a way to view the younger generation that has grown up with technology, referring to their possession of an “information mindset”. Frand (2000) was specifically describing characteristics of those who have been born during the age of technology. Since this time, a debate has emerged about the differences between the generations in terms of their learning approaches and preferences and the way in which they view technology. 3. Smartphone

Modern high-end mobile phones combine the functionality of a pocket-sized communication device with PC-like capabilities, resulting in what are generally referred to as smartphones (Caroll. A and Heiser. G, 2010). The number and popularity of mobile apps is rising dramatically due to the accelerating rate of adoption of smartphones. For example, Android has 150K apps and 350K daily activations. Preinstalled with marketplace portals such as the AppStore on iOS, Market on Android, and Marketplace on Windows Mobile, popular smartphone platforms have made it easy for users to discover and start using many network-enabled apps quickly.

Furthermore, the appearance of tablets and mobile devices with other form factors, which also use these marketplaces, has increased the diversity in apps and their user population (Xu, 2011). Smartphones are being adopted at a phenomenal pace but little is known (publicly) today about how people use these devices. In 2009, smartphone penetration in the US was 25% and 14% of worldwide mobile phone shipments were smartphones [23, 16]. By 2011, smartphone sales are projected to surpass desktop PCs [25]. But beyond a few studies that report on users’ charging behaviors [2, 17] and relative power consumption of various components (e. . , CPU, screen) [24], many basic facts on smartphone usage are unknown: i) how often does a user interact with the phone and how long does an interaction last? ii) How many applications does a user run and how is her attention spread across them? iii) How much network tra? c is generated? (Falaki et al, 2010). 3. 0 PROBLEM STATEMENT Technology upgraded today already spread around the world which influenced peoples to use this technology equipment in their daily life. One of the technologies mentioned is smart phone. As we can see, there are a lot of mobile phone’s producers that come out with new model frequently.

It is make peoples who classified as generation y really like to buy smart phone even though the price is expensive. However, before they buy the smart phone, they confused what kind of features actually that they want for their smart phone. That’s why peoples keep changing their mobile phone because they think that their current mobile phone still not give full satisfaction. 4. 0 PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to examine what kind of features to be consider before buying smart phone among the students of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) of part 5 course of International Business.

The features are including call quality, operating system and design. 5. 0 OBJECTIVES The objectives of this report are to examine the features to be consider before buying a smart phone among generation y of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) from the aspects: I. Call quality II. Operating system III. Design IV. Display 6. 0 SAMPLING UNIT The scope of study is among of part 5 International Business’s students. It includes only 5 classes of part 5 which is 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E. Students of part 5 are classified as generation y. 7. 0 SAMPLING SIZE

The sample size of the study is 120 students or 120 samples. 8. 0 DATA COLLECTION METHOD This questionnaire is about to examine the features to be consider before buying the smart phone. The information of this report was obtained through a survey in which 100 questionnaire were distributed to Part 5 of International Business students at UiTM in Malacca. There are consists of 30 questions in this survey that can help the respondents to know about what kind of features to be consider and also concerned in a mobile phone after the survey. 9. 0 MEASURE SCALE

The score is measure based on the several scale of measurement in this questionnaire which falls on rarely, sometimes and often. This questionnaire has 2 sections which is section A ask about the demographic of respondents and section B is about the features of smart phone. First feature is call quality, operating system, design and display. 10. 0 LIMITATION I. Subjects Subjects were restricted to a certain group of students in Universiti Teknologi Mara Melaka City campus. Subjects were among Part 5 of students who studies in course of International Business from classes 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D and 5E.

II. Data Collection Method Perception of the students is not the same and can be difference part by part. Some students might be doesn’t really care the features of a mobile phone as long as the basic features are available such call and messaging. Some students may answer the questionnaires without read carefully the questionnaires and some of them may bias in answering the questionnaires. 11. 0 VARIABLES Dependent variable Independent variables 12. 0 DEPENDENT VARIABLE The dependent variable is the buying decision of Generation Y Universiti

Teknologi Mara (UiTM) Malacca City Campuse. Independent variables i. Call quality The most bare-bones feature phones offer is the best call quality, and some fancy Smartphone offer dismal calling. When evaluating phones, be sure to make a few test calls. In our hands-on tests, we generally place some calls from a quiet room and several others in a noisy environment. You might not be able to replicate such tests indoors, but try your best. Listen for static, tinny voices, and interference. Ask the people you call if they can hear a disruptive amount of background noise. i. Operating system Generation y are looking to do more than make calls and send text messages with their phone, consider the platform that it runs on. The mobile operating system must be greatly affecting the phone capabilities. The most popular platforms are Google's Android(found on multiple devices), iOS (found only on iPhone models), BlackBerry OS(found on BlackBerrys of various designs), and Microsoft’s Windows Phone. Each operating system has its own advantages and disadvantages, so familiarize yourself with all of them before settling on one. iii. Design

The choices range from phones with large touch screens to slider-style handsets with full-QWERTY keyboards. Whichever type of phone that they select, check to see if it's comfortable to hold against your ear, if you can hear callers without constant adjustment, if you can use the phone with one hand (or by scrunching your neck and shoulder), if it fits comfortably in your pocket or bag, and if it's durable enough to handle some rough treatment. A solidly built phone should be able to withstand getting banged around in a handbag or pocket, as well as a bit of moisture and a hort-range drop. You should consider investing in a case or display protector as well especially if you’re somewhat accident-prone. iv. Display Display screen to those intend do a lot of Web browsing or movie streaming, make sure that the screen is big enough so you to take full advantage of the phone's features. For surfing the Web or editing Office documents on your phone, a screen that measures less than 3 inches diagonally will feel cramped. 13. 0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS i. Is there any relationship between call quality and feature to be considered before buying smart phone? i. Is there any significance relationship between operating system and feature to be considered before buying smart phone? iii. Is there any significance relationship between design and feature to be considered before buying smart phone? iv. At what range of ages that concern the features of mobile phone before buying? v. Is there any significance relationship between display and feature to be considered before buying smart phone? 14. 0 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS i. There is positive relationship between call quality and feature to be considered before buying smart phone.

There is no significant relationship between call quality and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. ii. There is positive relationship between operating system and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. There is no significant relationship between operating system and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. iii. There is positive relationship between design and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. There is no significant relationship between design and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. iv.

There is positive relationship between display and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. There is no significant relationship between display and feature to be considered before buying smart phone. v. Year of generation y more likes to considered the features of mobile phone before buying it. REFERENCES Caroll. A and Heiser, G (n. d). An Analysis of Power Consumption in a Smartphone. Chow. M. M, Chen. L. H, Ai. J, Yeow, Wah. P, Wong (2012). Conceptual Paper: Factors Affecting the Demand of Smartphone among Young Adult. International Journal on Social Science Economics and Art. 43-44 Lee. H. S, Kim. T. G, Choi.

J. Y (2012). A Study on the Factors Affecting Smart Phone Application Acceptance. International Conference on e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning. 27-28 Meier. J, Austin. S. F, Crocker. M (2010). Generation Y in the Workforce: Managerial Challenges. The Journal of Human Resources and Learning. 68-69 Safiek and Azizul (2012) (mokhsin, 2012). Consumer Choice Criteria in Mobile Phone Selection: An Investigation of Malaysian University Students. International Review of Social Sciences and Humanities. 203-204. ----------------------- Call quality Operating system Buying Decision of Generation Y Design Display