Globalization's Impact on Consumer Choices in the UK Mobile Market

This report examines the influence of globalization on consumer choices within the UK mobile market. The research involved both primary and secondary data collection methods, including questionnaires and interviews with a diverse group of 200 participants across the UK, encompassing students, employees, and managers. The study explored popular phone models, assembly locations, factors influencing consumer choices (price, durability, features, and brand), consumer regrets, phone usage patterns, phone effectiveness, and handset replacement frequency. Findings revealed that Samsung was the most popular brand and that the majority of phones were imported. The analysis highlighted the significance of factors like price and brand in influencing consumer decisions. The report includes detailed data analysis, graphical representations, and a thematic approach to draw conclusions and provide recommendations for consumers and future research, addressing both the positive and negative impacts of globalization on consumer behavior in the mobile phone sector.

Part 2: The Research and Report
Executive Summary
Globalization has taken control of a number of phenomena in the universe. Business entities,
education sectors, industries as well as government bodies all rely on the impacts of
globalization to expand on the ventures. Business management may involve different faces and
strategies as one move from one country to another. Globalization has been pivotal in fusing the
various cultures ad trends across the world into one business market to enhance trade, education
as well as socio-economic interactions.
Despite having positive impacts such as creation of employment opportunities and ease of
foreign trade, globalization equally comes with a number of negative effects which include the
spread of fast food chains and other businesses which lead to negative impacts on the consumers’
health and general well being.
This research process narrowed down the influence of globalization with reference to consumer
choices in the mobile market especially in the UK. The results, findings and discussion shall seek
to address both the negative and positive impacts of globalization on consumer choices in the
UK. The discussion draws facts from vast data collection and analysis approaches. Information
was obtained from participants from different locations within the United Kingdom. The report
therefore entails an in-depth discussion of these results in addition to a self reflection based on
the research process. The conclusions and recommendations based on the research findings shall
be helpful not only in enhancing decision making among consumers in the UK but also in future
research processes aimed at assessing and reducing the negative impacts of globalization on the
consumers’ choices

Methodology
The research procedure involved the use of both primary and secondary data sources. In
line with the primary sources, information was obtained through questionnaires which were
distributed to the participants both physically and via email. On the other hand, the secondary
sources included research work which had been completed by other researchers on the same
topic of study. Additionally, books, journals and other relevant articles were reviewed in a bid to
retrieve secondary data. Kissane (2017) outlines that review of contextual literature is effective
for this kind of research due to the fact that it enhances the derivation of concrete data which
converts to reliability and precision of the information obtained. Such approaches are however
cumbersome and costly but with the right project managemnt strategies like time and cost
management, they can be used to enhance successful research processes.
In order to obtain as much information from the participant, the research process involved
random sampling. The technique was intended to cover specific regions within UK based on the
financial allocation and research budget. The research project worked with a total of 200
participants drawn from various regions across the UK. The participants included; students in
universities, employees in various business organizations, managers in selected mobile phone
distributing companies as well as the average man on the street. Out of the 200, the research
process had female participants make a third of the entire population. 25 participants were
selected from 4 Universities in North, East, West and South London areas. This is because the
participants were in one area which made them easily accessible. Similarly, most of the
University students like trendy phones. It was therefore important to deduce what informs their
choices. The same trend was followed by picking employees in different organizations across the
four regions. From each region, a total of 20 employees were ear marked for the process hence

culminating into a total of 180 participants. 10 managers from different companies were picked
for the data collection process while the remaining 10 were randomly picked from the streets.
The participants were issued with open ended and self answer questionnaire with the main aim of
deducing their opinion regarding the impact of globalization on their choices as mobile phone
consumers. This method was chosen because it allows a fair representation of the population.
Due to the constraints, it was practically impossible to reach the entire population; random
sampling therefore offered the researcher a proper platform from which tacit conclusions on the
research problem could be drawn.
Once the population samples had been obtained, the participants were issued with
questionnaires. The questionnaires comprised instructions aimed at encouraging the participants
to give their most honest opinions. The questionnaires were to be filled and collected for review
within a period of two weeks. In order to reach the participants who were far way, digital
approaches were employed. The questionnaires were emailed to them. This method is not only
cheap but also convenient as the researcher doesn’t to have to physically reach the participants.
Questionnaires however take a lot of time to construct. This slowed down the research process.
Open ended questions allowed the participants to give the response a wide scope while
the closed ended ones were effective for speedy and convenient responses. Open ended questions
take longer to fill and in some cases participants may not offer the best of opinions. This
loophole was adequately addressed by including both open ended and closed questions on the
questionnaire. In addition to the use of questionnaires, some participants from the total
population were randomly selected for interviews. This approach mainly targeted the managers,
CEO and company employees. The participants were then interviewed and the information
recorded and kept for the process of analysis. This method is pivotal in enhancing reliability and

validity of the data since the information is directly obtained from the participants by the
researcher. The face to face interactions increase the level of honesty hence making the
information reliable and precise enough to enhance the successful completion of the research
process. Interviews are however time consuming since the researcher has to create time and meet
the participants.
The qualitative approach used in the research process involved the review of relevant
literature. The materials included in this process were research reports by other individuals on
the same topic of study as well as books and journals discussing the same concept. The items
were reviewed to obtain the most relevant information was then recorded and kept for the
process of analysis. This method is important in obtaining precise information regarding the
research topic. It is however cumbersome and time consuming as the researcher has to read
through the contents in order to draw data.
The main data collection tool used was questionnaires. They shall be designed with both
closed and open ended questions. The instructions were made clear for each participant to guide
them on how the questions were to be filled. While some portions shall had multiple choice
answers, other categories of the questionnaire shall allow the participants to give the individual
opinions based on the research issue.
The data obtained was analyzed through the use of two main applications namely SPSS
as well as the Oracle Business Intelligence. Two methods were selected in order to enhance
validity and reliability. The data was fed into the applications which then released the tabulated
data based on the given correlations. The OBI application was specifically more effective since it
could derive pie charts and graphs based on the data that is fed and eventually analyzed. This

was crucial especially in instances where precision was required. The pie charts and graphs
generated are easy to interpret due to clear visual interpretation. The researcher then employed a
thematic approach of analysis to the generated data based on the research objectives and
questions. Relevant conclusions and arguments were drawn from the data in a bid to adequately
meet the main aim of the research.

Results and findings
1 Which are the most popular phone models in the UK?
MOBILE PHONE TYPE PERCENTAGE POPULARITY
Samsung 30%
Nokia 15%
Huawei 15%
Sony 10%
HTC 5%
Windows Phone 15%
Others 10%
Percentage popularity presented in form of a pie chart
Percentage
Samsung
Nokia
Sony
Windows phone
HTC
Huawei
Others

2 Are the phones locally or internationally assembled?
Locally assembled phones 30%
Imported phones 70%
A graph showing the number of phones assembled in the UK between Aug 2017 and Feb
2019

3 Which factors influence the consumers’ choice of mobile phones?
Factor Level to which it influences consumer choices
Price 25%
Durability 20%
Phone features 20%
Manufacturing company 35%
Graphical presentation of factors and level of influence
Price Durability Phone features manufacturing
company
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Level of influnce
4. Do you have any regrets over the choice of phone?
Positive response (Yes) 35%
Negative response (No) 65%
5. What do you mostly use your phone for?
Browsing and social media 30%
General communication 30%
Work related activities 40%

6. Has the phone been effective in fulfilling your individual desires?
Positive response (yes) 80%
Negative response (no) 20%
7. How often do you change your handset?
After 1 year 50%
After 2-3 years 25%
After 4 years 15%
I take as long as it is in good condition 10%
Discussion: Data Analysis and research findings