Relative student requirements from and perceptions of the Irish mobile phone industry - Irish and Chinese higher education students compared
Authors
Zhao, Shunzhong
Issue Date
2008
Degree
MSc in International Business
Publisher
Dublin Business School
Rights holder
Rights
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Abstract
There is a significant increase in Chinese entrants to the Irish third-level institutions in recent years. These young consumers and their Irish classmates likely make a considerable contribution to the rapid expansion of Irish mobile communications industry. Yet limited research has been carried out on exploring the similarities and differences of these two demographics in relation to what they require from and how they perceive the mobile communications offerings in Ireland. To address this gap Chinese and Irish higher education students (N = 62 for each group) were surveyed through internet-mediated questionnaires and intercept questionnaires. All student respondents were enrolled in various higher education institutions in Dublin for the 2007/2008 academic year. The results reveal a high similarity between the Chinese and Irish students towards characteristics valued (all were price conscious) yet perceptions of the extent to which the Irish mobile phone industry met these requirements varied. This was largely due to students' existing market experiences in their relative countries. Chinese consumers tended to compare the Irish market with their home market in China, while the Irish students tended to make comparison with a variety of different national markets. The findings have valuable implications for existing literature on consumer perceptions of the Irish mobile phone industry and can provide valuable guidance to marketers regarding market strategy development for mobile phones and services.