Title: Product attributes and purchase intention for smartphones: a moderated mediation model

Authors: Chun-Mei Chen; Hsian-Ming Liu; Bao-Yi Ann

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, China University of Technology, No. 56, Sec. 3, Xinglong Rd., Wenshan Dist., Taipei City 116, Taiwan (R.O.C.) ' Department of Financial Management, National Defense University, No. 70, Section 2, Zhongyang North Road, Beitou, Taipei 112, Taiwan (R.O.C.) ' Department of Business Administration, China University of Technology, No. 56, Sec. 3, Xinglong Rd., Wenshan Dist., Taipei City 116, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

Abstract: This study was conducted to explore how smartphone addicts decide to adopt a smartphone brand with the related variables of product attributes, brand image, customer perceived value and purchase intension, and find out whether there exists a mediation and moderated mediation effect. The factors to influence the purchase decision of smartphone brands were investigated in order to measure the satisfaction levels of eight product attributes and to verify the indirect and moderated mediation effects by path analytic methods. This research collected 600 valid questionnaires through face-to-face market surveys with a total of 420 usable responded data. The empirical results proved that the satisfaction of product attributes is positively related to purchase intention, and brand image positively mediates the relationship between the satisfaction of product attributes and purchase intention. The perceived value positively moderates the relationship between the satisfaction of product attributes and purchase intention through brand image. Moreover, when the value of the perceived value is higher, the positive relevance between product attributes and brand image will be strengthened. The findings for strategic implications and how to enhance the purchase intention are provided for the addicts, mobile operators, smartphone manufacturers and the academia for further study.

Keywords: brand image; mobile; perceived value; product attributes; purchase intention; smartphone.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMC.2018.088270

International Journal of Mobile Communications, 2018 Vol.16 No.1, pp.1 - 23

Accepted: 02 Sep 2016
Published online: 01 Dec 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article