A STUDY ON PREFERENCE OF MOBILE BRANDS AMONG THE STUDENTS IN PUNE CITY (Pages 53-60) by Dr. Ujjwal M. Mishra in THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGER / ISSN: 2348-9413 (Online); 2348-9405 (Print)

Branding permits customers to develop association with the brand and eases the purchase decision. A strong brand benefits consumers in that they provide quality certification, which can aid decision – making of purchasing. The study investigates the brand preference on mobile purchase among the students of Pune City. On this basis, this report deals with various choice criteria’s ( economic, social, personal and technical) that students can use for decision making on purchasing of branded mobile phone. With the use of a 20 questions among 250 students followed by a survey, it finds that students see technical criteria (durability, reliability and performance) on making choice of purchase of branded mobile phones. The study further notifies that economic criteria (price) also become a important factor that influences the purchasing process. On analysis of personal criteria suggest that students do not prefer branded mobile for creating self-image however they choose it because they believe branded mobile reduce the unexpected kinds of risk that may occurs. The report also says students do not prefer branded mobile in order to maintain social status (social criteria) while taking decision of purchase. The result shows Samsung users are highly satisfied than other mobile brand users. Most favorite brand among the college students is Samsung and the least favorite brand is LG. Appearance, Price, Brand Image and advertisement are the important factors for the students while purchasing mobile phones. Keywords: branded mobile, decision of purchase, economic criteria, durability, reliability, performance, quality certification etc.