Ringtones Market

Introduction

In this assignment a way of categorising consumers is presented, which attempts to find and classify consumer behaviour in relation to their attitudes to and, choice of mobile phone ring tones. By arranging 1:1 in-depth interviews with different consumer types (ie different ages and personality types) specific group types should emerge, revealing a correlation between personal attributes and ring tone selection.

Different types of consumer will place different levels of importance on mobile phone ring tones. Types of consumer buying behaviour are determined by level of involvement in purchase decision. This is affected by the importance and intensity of interest in a product in a particular situation. In short; someone who places importance on what ring tone they have, would consider ring tone selection to be a high involvement purchase. The fact that a ring tone is a product visible to others, means that a consumer who places importance on ring tones will view the selection process with a high social risk.

Moreover, the way a consumer behaves is largely determined by the motivation behind their actions. A motive is an "internal energizing force that orients a person's activities toward satisfying a need or achieving a goal" Berry, L.L (1983). Actions are effected by a set of motives, not just one. These are:

o Physiological

o Safety

o Love and Belonging

o Esteem

o Self Actualization

Maslow, A & Frager, R (1987)

In order to determine what prompts their purchases, it needs to be determined what level of the hierarchy the consumers are at.

To better understand consumer behaviour in the context of the ring tones industry; consumer categories must be developed which characterise certain traits of particular types of consumer. Once classified into groups, the basic elements of the group and the reasons behind these can be analysed. The justification for this approach is that complex social interactions rarely, if ever, operate to a set pattern like elements in the physical sciences. Behaviour is, therefore, dependent upon both the nature and the context in which it occurs. A group type will therefore possess a number of distinguishing characteristics, which will be constructed to describe the complexities of behaviour within a particular frame of reference. Group types reflect certain underlying motives and imperatives, as such people from different group types will go through a different process when selecting their ring tone. This is consistent with the work of Fishbein (1967) which links attitudes and outcomes, arguing that individuals' attitudes toward certain outcomes motivate behaviour.

Moreover members of different groups will view ring tones with different levels of importance. In accordance with this, a consumer who does not care what ring tone they have, will not perceive having a default ring tone as a risk. Similarly, it is assumed that uncertainty or "confidence" is largely determined by perceptions of risk, which are determined by the certainty of outcome associated with that product (Shostack, 1977).

Research method

Based upon the success of previous research (Harrison, 1997) and following Shostack's (1977) recommendation of understanding consumers' evaluation processes by standing "in the shoes of consumers", it was decided to use 1:1 in-depth interviews with consumers. However, due to the constraints of the assignment it was found that only seven such interviews could be convened. Accordingly, I sought to obtain views from a cross-section of the UK population of varying ages, socio-economic groupings and locales. An interview schedule was devised (see appendices) which focused on the main issues of interest, but also permitted the respondents to introduce topics which they perceived as important in their choice of ring tone.

The main objective of these groups was to obtain further insights into consumer behaviour when selecting a ring tone. The data were therefore analysed using a keyword approach which included identifying either specific words, themes or issues which commonly occurred within and across the interviews. To facilitate this approach it was decided to classify ring tone selection on the basis of consumer need as advocated by Normann and Haikola (1986). Accordingly, the discussions focused on the following generic topics: 'is it important which ring tone you have?', 'how often do you change it?', and 'why you picked that ring tone?'

Mr Default , Ring tone guru, Nostalgic extroverts and the Theme-tuner

After conducting and analysing the results on 1 to 1 interviews (see appendices), four different categories have been devised, in attempt to segment mobile phone users. The segments and examples used are generalisations. Just because someone is a 30 male manager who enjoys golf, does not instantly make them a 'Mr Default', however, that is the most likely category for them to fall into. There are no doubt exceptions to the categories but this is due to the randomness of consumer personalities; and personality is the most influential factor on choice of ring tone.

Mr Default

Age: Mostly over 25

Gender: Male

Job: Manager. Business man

Hobbies: Golf. Reading the paper

Example ring tone: Default

Mr Default does not believe in ring tones. To them, a phone is a device simply for making and receiving calls, and the occasional text message. Mr Default tends to be older males, but not exclusively. To Mr Default is massively introvert having a personal ring tone would be 'embarrassing'. Mr Default could have the most expensive handset available, but would still have 'ring ring' as his ring tone, their choice of ring tone is a explicitly low involvement.

Mr Default displays low levels of involvement with the features of the mobile phone as they are fully aware of the product's salient features. Given the low levels of involvement and the limited perception of uncertainty, these consumers can be described as "passive" in the sense that they will select a ring tone without actively seeking alternatives. This pattern of behaviour, which is described as "behavioural loyalty" (Brown 1952), has been extensively researched. Brown (1952)