Author(s): Ramya K Prasad and Shanti Venkatesh
Purpose of the study: Computers have become inevitable for small businesses, as well as in the home front, irrespective of their size, shape, model- variants and their cost. Pandemic also has mandated people to purchase one gadget or the other to meet the challenges of work-from home / online education. The researchers aimed to study the Customer demographic profile & purchase behaviour of buying laptops among the IT, manufacturing industry and educational sector (students) laptop users. The study also aims to determine the competitive intensity and attractiveness of this sector. Methodology: To study the Customer demographic profile & purchase behavior of buying laptops among the IT, manufacturing industry and educational sector (students), the researchers have undertaken a quantitative research study using probability sampling method. The data is collected from a sample of 400 students and working professionals in Tamil Nadu, India, using simple random sampling technique. Structured questionnaire has been used for collecting primary data. Main Findings: This research seeks to develop a better understanding of the customer demographic profile & purchase behaviour of buying laptops among the IT, Manufacturing industry and student users. The study also indicates the factors influencing consumers’ laptop purchases. All working professionals and students have the similar preferences in Brands of laptop and the size of the monitor, whereas purchase behaviour of customers differ, when it comes to price, speed, storage, graphic card, operating system and processor. Application of the study: Although the survey in this paper is illustrated in respect to the perspective of working professionals and student laptop users, it can be interesting to replicate the study on student laptop-users of different cities and countries and compare the obtained results in a future work. Similar studies on other techno-gadgets such as tablets or smart phones can be carried out to understand the market trends and changing customers’ needs and wants and evaluate their demographic profile & purchase behaviour. Novelty / Originality of the study: The study on the customer demographic profile & purchase behaviour of buying laptops among the IT, manufacturing industry and educational sector (students) laptop users is an original piece of work by the researchers. However, the topic may be common and a number of studies in this area have been conducted earlier too. The study would help to understand the market trends and changing customers’ needs and wants and evaluate their demographic profile & purchase behaviour of laptops considering factors such as brands, price, speed, storage, graphic card, operating system and processor. Such studies provide valuable base data for the laptop manufacturers and marketers to re-design their product and services, according to needs and wants of their customers.