Samenvatting

Nokia is a large mobile phone company that is struggling to keep up with other players in the emerging smartphone market. The market is very competitive and the products have a short life cycle. Furthermore, a high level of innovativeness is required. In this report the Finnish mobile phone company has been analysed based on consumer research. The main research question is: 'How can Nokia optimise their marketing approach based on a sound understanding of consumer behaviour?' First of all desk research has been conducted. Books and academic papers on consumer behaviour have been analysed in order to gain thorough knowledge on consumer behaviour theory. Business publications like Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times have been used to analyse the smartphone market. Regarding the field research, both quantitative and qualitative research have been conducted, including different types of consumer research, such as focus groups and a survey.
Since consumer behaviour is a very broad topic, specific subjects were looked at, such as the decision-making process and the self-concept. The self-concept that applies most to a person purchasing a smartphone is the ideal self, because people purchase a smartphone to reach their ideal state, e.g. being popular. Nokia has been analysed from 2008 until 2012, this analysis clearly illustrated its loss of market share throughout the years. Nokia's main brand competitors are Apple, Samsung and HTC, because they possess a large amount of market share. Furthermore, when analysing the conducted consumer research their brand image is perceived higher in comparison to Nokia.
The consumer research that has been conducted consisted of two focus groups and a survey. The first focus group consisted of students in the age of 20 to 25. The second focus group consisted of employees in the age of 26 to 35. Clear differences were found between the two groups. The slightly younger generation perceived the brand as more important than the operating system when purchasing a smartphone, whereas the slightly older generation perceived the operating system as being of greater importance. Besides the brand, social influences played a larger role on a younger age. The survey that had been conducted consisted of 22 questions which were based on the focus groups, over 250 people participated. The most important source of information for the participants were family and close friends, showing the power of reference groups. Up to 29 per cent of the participants did not know the Nokia Lumia range. However, the majority that did know the smartphone range knew it from the company's advertisements. Thus, advertisements are an important tool to create awareness for a product.
To conclude, the consumers that are likely to purchase smartphones are the millennials, aged between 18 and 35, because this group is familiar with smartphones and other high-technology products. A distinction can be made between the student generation and the employed generation. The younger generation perceived the brand as more important when purchasing a smartphone, whereas the older generation perceived the operating system as being of greater importance. Nokia can make consumers become connected to their brand by using social comparison. For instance, by creating advertisements through which consumers can evaluate themselves in comparison to the people shown in the advertisement.
The answers on the sub-questions and the main question have been translated into recommendations. In short, the company should create a slick design and continue with building a lifestyle around their smartphone devices. Nokia should continue strengthening the business segment, because the company is positioned in consumers´ minds as reliable, which is a good factor when targeting businesses. Moreover, Windows is the most popular operating system on business computers. Staying innovative by using the new Windows 8 is of high importance in the emerging smartphone market. Nokia should conduct extensive consumer research analysing the innovators and early adopters of the innovation adoption curve. Nokia consumers can be reached through word-of-mouth, e.g. social media and reference groups. Furthermore, advertisements should be created emphasising the benefits superior to competing smartphones. The company will need an adaptive marketing strategy in order to succeed. Nokia should focus on regaining brand equity, because the company lost its brand equity during the evolution of mobile phones to smartphone devices. This will lead to increased financial value and customer loyalty.