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Tag: brand

  • Does a Mobile's Embedded Content Influence Purchase Decisions?


    Many factors influence consumers’ decisions to buy one mobile phone over the other – but it seems that embedded content is an increasingly important one.

    A survey by independent app store GetJar has found that brand remains the key purchase decision factor (28% respondents), followed some way behind by user experience (17%).

    But coming up in third place is embedded content, which GetJar says is now more important in purchase decisions than price, design or even touchscreen capability.

    Ilja Laurs, founder and CEO of GetJar Networks, said that a phone’s user interface and brand are dominant factors for deciding which handset consumers choose.

    "The big change in consumer preference we see within this survey is the importance they are placing on content," he said.

    The survey asked respondents to rank a list of 10 phone features by order of importance including brand, screen size/resolution, user experience/phone software, phone memory, quality of camera, price, touchscreen, music player, embedded content and overall design/look and feel.

    Those taking part in the poll, conducted across the 130 countries in the GetJar network, were also asked to grade each of those features individually on a five-level scale of importance.

    The content that comes with the handset placed third with 12 per cent of respondents worldwide saying it is "extremely important" to their choice of new handset ahead of phone memory (8%), price (5%) and design (7%).

    While the poll showed increased demand for embedded content across all the major international regions, it is US consumers that appear to place it higher on their list of priorities than those in Europe.

    In the US 60 per cent of respondents said it was "extremely important" to their choice of handset compared to 47 per cent in Europe.

    The findings also indicate that the uptake of new handsets will be faster in Europe, with only 25 per cent of those surveyed saying they will not get a new phone this year compared to 40 per cent of US consumers polled.

  • Handset Names Key To US Smartphone Market Share?


    Forget a stylish smartphone packed with cutting edge features – if you want it to sell give it a cool name.

    At least that’s what research by Strategic Name Development (SND) claims in a report that links higher market share with cell phones having names that consumers prefer.

    The study suggests that Nokia’s "clinical-sounding alphanumeric names" are why the Finnish phone giant fails to connect with US consumers.

    Equally, Motorola’s succesful use of 4LTR names – RAZR, ROKR, SLVR, PEBL – eventually became jaded with KRZR and consumers stopped buying.

    The study by SND argues that its claims on the importance of a phone’s name are borne out by both companies’ experiencing a falling market share.

    Between 2004 and 2006, Motorola’s market share peaked at 35 per cent but after it introduced the KRZR in late 2006, this fell to 21 per cent by the second quarter of 2008.

    William Lozito, president of SND, a brand naming consultancy, said names created a distinct sense of identity and personality.

    He said thay also offered a way for people to connect with the product on an emotional level.

    "Names matter," he said.

    Lozito said it was no coincidence that LG and Samsung had identical US market shares of 16 per cent in Q3 2005, and 20 per cent in 2008.

    He said this was because they introduced very similar product naming strategies.

    The researchers praised LG and Samsung’s choices – LG’s Chocolate, Shine and Vu "appeal to the senses", while Samsung’s BlackJack, Juke and Glyde brought "fresh naming innovation" to the category.

    “Conversely, during the same period, Nokia continued a less popular naming convention and its US market share dropped from 16 per cent to 9 per cent," said Lozito.

    For some unexplained reason, the survey only looked at Motorola, LG, Samsung and Nokia – and was limited to the US market.

    And while a great name undoubtedly sets the tone for a phone, can it really condemn a handset to failure?

    We would be really interested to hear how important you think a name is to a smartphone’s success.