FOREIGN TRADE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AND ADMINISTRATION



ASSIGNMENT

The effect of AFTA on prices of cars

Subject:

STATISTICS FOR BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS

Instructor: MSc. Le Thu Hang

Class: TOAE301(2-1415).1_LT

Group Members:
1. Vũ Hoàng Anh - 1313340007
2. Phạm Thị Thanh Thúy - 1314340049
3. Quách Thị Thu Trang - 1313340051
4. Đặng Trần Sơn Tùng - 1313340053
5. Nguyễn Thanh Tùng - 1312340054

Hanoi, May 2015

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................... 3
1.1. Rationale of the study .................................................................................................. 3
1.2. Aims of the study ......................................................................................................... 3
1.3. Objectives of the study ................................................................................................ 3
1.4. Research methods ........................................................................................................ 4
1.5. Scope of the study ........................................................................................................ 5
1.6. Structure of the study ................................................................................................... 5
Chapter 2: DATA AND METHODOLOGY.................................................. 6
2.1. Data .............................................................................................................................. 6
2.2. Methodology ................................................................................................................ 6
2.2.1. Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 6
2.2.2. Methods of choosing sample .................................................................................... 9
2.2.3. Methods of collecting data ....................................................................................... 9
2.2.4. Method of analysis ................................................................................................... 9
Chapter 3: FINDINGS ................................................................................... 10
1. Question 1: Evaluating the criteria when buying cell phone ......................................... 10
2. Question 2: Analyzing information sources when buying cell phone. ......................... 11
3. Question 3: Favorite operating systems ........................................................................ 12
4. Question 4: Favourable mobile brands .......................................................................... 13
5. Question 5: Popular mobile brands ............................................................................... 14
6. Question 6: Evaluating students’ affordability .............................................................. 15
7. Question 7: Researching about students’ purposes of using mobile phone .................. 17
8. Question 8: Analyzing information about cell phone market........................................ 18
9. Question 9: Evaluating the quality of cell phones ......................................................... 19
10. Question 10: Analyzing levels of learning information when making decision to buy
a cell phone. .......................................................................................................................... 20
11. Question 11: Assessing the influence of advertisement on phone purchasing
decision. ................................................................................................................................ 21
12. Question 12: Evaluating the satisfaction with the current phone. ............................. 22
Chapter 4: CONCLUSION ............................................................................ 23
PARTICIPATION EVALUATION ................................................................ 24
 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
The rapid development of science and technology, especially information
technology, has affected all aspects of life, and has changed completely the
mindsets and consuming behaviours of the majority of the community. If we
dated back to 20 years ago, the ownership of a hand phone was of the most
luxurious things for most of Vietnamese middle-class people. However,
nowadays, mobile phones are present everywhere, and have become an
indispensable tool for communication and work.
For university students of 20 years ago, a mobile phone was like a big
dream that barely came true. The only ways to keep in touch with families from
distance are through hand-writing letters or paid-by-minute home phone. The
more the economy grows, the more attention mobile phone firms pay to this
market segment, with more attractive promoting campaigns, lower prices,
discount and instalment programs designed for students. Therefore, recently,
there has been hardly a student without a mobile phone.
Owning a mobile phone; however, depends on many factors. The
possession of a luxurious phone (smart phone) or a basically-functional phone
reflects very clearly the owners’ interests, financial condition, personal needs,
and status. Our research focused on students, who are studying at universities or
colleges, and not totally financially-independent. The name of the research is
“Mobile phone – buying and using tendency of FTU students”.
Due to limitations in human resources and academic knowledge, our big
assignment may contain a number of mistakes and restrictions. We highly
appreciate and thank you for any comments and feedbacks to improve our
research.

1.2. Aims of the study

 Understand the purposes of mobile phone using of students.
 Find out the methods students use to collect` information when buying,
the affects (if any) that advertisements have on buying decisions, and the
level of satisfaction students have on their current phones.

1.3. Objectives of the study

To achieve the goals above, our missions are:
 Investigate into criteria which affect buying decision of students (price,
model, brand name, quality, configure, etc). Specially, with the result on
price, we will construct a demand function to see the effects of prices on
the demand for mobile phones in the viewpoint of students.
3
  Investigate the assessment of students on mobile phone market through
these following criteria:
 Information on mobile phone market
 General quality of mobile phones
 To select and apply the learnt theories from Statistics into building and
testing the applicability of the chosen topic. To set up scales and suitable
questionnaire.
 To generalize and analyze collected data, then come up to a conclusion.

1.4. Research methods

The survey is conducted in the form of online survey using tools from
www.drive.google.com, which is both easy, comfortable, time-saving for the
respondents, and convenient for us to generalize and track down onto the
responses.
The survey contains 12 questions:
Question Quantitative/Qualitative Scale of measurement
1 Qualitative Ordinal
2 Qualitative Nominal
3 Qualitative Nominal
4 Qualitative Nominal
5 Qualitative Nominal
6 Quantitative Nominal
7 Qualitative Nominal
8 Qualitative Ordinal
9 Qualitative Ordinal
10 Qualitative Ordinal
11 Qualitative Ordinal
12 Qualitative Ordinal

4
1.5. Scope of the study
 Our investigation will be conducted randomly on 220 students in the
Foreign Trade University from 2015 February to April due to the facts
that:
 They are suitable for the topic and the ability of the team.
 More importantly, the subject is totally suitable for the requirements of
the survey.

 Population and sample:

 Population: all of the students at Foreign Trade University
 Sample: 220 students selected at random for investigating

1.6. Structure of the study

The study is conducted as a survey containing 12 short questions:
 1 open-ended question (Question 6)
 11 close-ended questions

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 Chapter 2: DATA AND METHODOLOGY

2.1. Data
 Type of data
 Primary source
 Secondary source
 Sources of data
 Primary source: information collected from students in Foreign Trade
University through surveys.
 Secondary source: information collected from the internet, reports in
magazines, newspapers…

2.2. Methodology
2.2.1. Questionnaire

SURVEY
For our Statistics assignment, we are to conduct a survey of our choice
and use various statistical techniques to analyze its data. Please help us by
filling this survey!

Question 1: How would you rate the significance of those criteria when you
buy a mobile phone? (from 1 – most important to 4 – least important)
Price Model

Brand Quality (Configure, durability, battery saving...)

 Purpose of Q1: to study the importance of the criteria in selecting mobile
phone of students

Question 2: Where do you often get information before buying a mobile phone?
 Acquaintances (friends, teachers, siblings...)
 Online channels (facebook, website, youtube commercials, technology
forum...)
 Offline promoting events (banners, posters, leaflets...)
 Others: .....................................................

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  Purpose of Q2: to find out the main information sources when students
want to learn information to buy cell phone.

Question 3: You prefer to use phones with operating system of...

 Android  iOS  Windows
 Purpose of Q3: to survey which operation systems students use the most.

Question 4: Which are the brands that you will take into consideration when
buying a phone?

 Apple  Sony  HTC  Nokia

 LG  Samsung  Oppo Others: ………….

 Purpose of Q4: to build up data for researching which mobile brands are
most preferable among students.

Question 5: Which is the brand of your current phone?

 Apple  Sony  HTC  Nokia

 LG  Samsung  Oppo Others: ………….

 Purpose of Q5: to find out which mobile brands are used by students
most.

Question 6: What was the price of your current phone when you bought it?
……… (million VND)
 Purpose of Q6: to analyze students’ affordability.

Question 7: What are your main purposes of using a mobile phone?

 Making phone calls
 Playing games
 Studying
 Others …………………
 Purpose of Q7: to find out for which purposes students use their mobile
phone.

7
 Question 8: How do you find the information about mobile phones on the
market nowadays?
 Multidimensional information  Distinct
 Messy  Useless
 Purpose of Q8: This question shows us the data about how students
assess information on the cell phone market today.
Question 9: How do you think of the quality of mobile phones nowadays in
general?
 Good  Acceptable  Getting worse day by day
 Purpose of Q9: to examine the quality of mobile phones according to the
students’ evaluation.

Question 10: When you bought your current phone, you did:
 No research  A little research  A lot of research
 Purpose of Q10: to examine how much infomation students research
before buying mobie phones

Question 11: Do advertisements affect your buying decision?

 Very much  A little  Not at all
 Purpose of Q11: to study about the advertising influence on phone
purchasing decision of students of FTU.

Question 12: Are you satisfied with your current phone?

 Yes  No
 Purpose of Q12: to examine the percentage of students being satisfied
with their own phone.
Thank you for your cooperation!

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 2.2.2. Methods of choosing sample
Stratified random samples
 Firstly, we divide the population (all of FTU students) into 4 subgroups
(called strata):
 Group 1: 1st year students
 Group 2: 2nd year students
 Group 3: 3rd year students
 Group 4: 4th year student
 Then, simple random samples are selected from each subgroup
 We choose randomly 55 students from each subgroup
 Finally, samples from 4 subgroups are combined into

2.2.3. Methods of collecting data

 Sample survey
A sample survey is a study that obtains data from a subset of a
population, in order to estimate population attributes.

Total Responses Valid Responses Invalid Responses

220 220 0

(220 responses are valid because the all of the students joining the investigation
complete the survey)

2.2.4. Method of analysis

 Methods of quantitative data analysis. Some indexes, formulas we
applied in analysis and conclusion process.
 Methods of synthesizing data, encrypting data was collected by the
numbers.
 Arithmetic mean helps to assess the level of representation of the
problem under study.
 Method of charts, graphs illustrating helps to have a visual look and
specific research issues.

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 Chapter 3: FINDINGS

1. Question 1: Evaluating the criteria when buying cell

phone
Synthesis method:
 For each arrangement: The criteria are rated 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th respectively
mounted with 4,3,2,1 points.
 Then, summing the numbers in each column criteria (price, design, label,
quality) to form the synthesis results.

Criteria of students when choosing cell phone

Criteria Price Design Brand Quality Sum

Quantity 611 467 532 590 2200

Frequency 28% 21% 24% 27% 100%

Evaluation criteria when choosing cell

phone

27%
28%
Price

24% 21% Design

Brand
Quality

According to the result of the above statistic, we can see that the criteria
of students when choosing cell phones do not differ much. Of all the four
criteria, the criteria Price reachs 611 out of 2200 points corresponding to 28%,

10
which means this is the first criteria that students consider when choosing cell
phone. Meanwhile, criteria Design reach the lowest points (467 out of 2200)
corresponding to 21%. Thus, based on the chart we can conclude that when
buying the phone, students often consider Price as first criteria, followed by
Quality, Brand and Design in order.

2. Question 2: Analyzing information sources when buying

cell phone.

Statistical information research on buying cell phone of students

Information sources Quantity Frequency

Acquaintances (Friends, teachers, family …) 131 51%

Through some online channels: Facebook, Twitter,

98 38%
review clip on Youtube…)

Through some outside advertisements (banner, poster...) 23 9%

Others 3 1%

Total 255 100%

Information sources when buying cell phone

9% 1%

Acquaintances
Online

52% Outside ads

Others
38%

Through the model we can easily see that more than a half students
buying cell phone based on the information from acquaintances (friends,
teachers, family) with 131/255 voted (correspond to 52%). Besides, information
11
through some online channels such as Facebook, websites from cell phone
providers, Youtube etc also is the major information sources for students with
98/255 voted ( correspond to 38%). Finally, quite a few students used outside
advertisements and others (correspond to 10%).
This statistics show us that the students are relatively cautious when
finding information sources to buy cell phone. The sources being mostly
selected are reliable and highly precise. Besides, information sources being from
acquaintances and online website are trusted and popular to many students
today.

3. Question 3: Favorite operating systems

Students’ favorite operating systems

Operation system Quantity Frequency

Android 130 55%

iOS 75 32%

Window 30 13%

Sum 235 100%

Through the survey, we see that Android with 130 out of 235 votes
corresponding to 55% is the most favorite operation system. Next, the operation
system iOS reaching 72 votes is the 2nd favorite one. And Window is the least
favorite operating system with only 30 votes.
Android is now widely being used and and becoming more and more
popular because it is the easiest operation system to use of the three categories
named above. Furthermore, this operating system is also used for many different
cell phone brands (Samsung, LG, Sony, ...). In particular, Android provides
huge app store, many free and useful tools, which is suitable for students.

12
 4. Question 4: Favourable mobile brands
Most favourable mobile brands

Mobile brands Quantity Frequency

Apple 90 41%

Sony 17 8%

HTC 19 9%

Nokia 29 13%

LG 12 5%

Samsung 43 20%

Oppo 3 1%

Other 7 3%

Total 220 100%

Favourable mobile brands

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% 41%
40%
30%
20%
20% 13%
8% 9%
10% 5% 3%
1%
0%
Apple Sony HTC Nokia LG Samsung Oppo Other

From the table, we easily interfere that students prefer Apple most with 90
out of 220 votes (41%). Samsung ranks 2nd with 43 out of 220 votes (20%).
Nokia and HTC respectively stand in 3rd and 4th position with 13% and 9%. All
other brands seem less attractive to students.

13
 5. Question 5: Popular mobile brands
Mobile brands Quantity Frequency

Apple 39 18%

Sony 9 4%

HTC 10 5%

Nokia 80 36%

LG 11 5%

Samsung 49 22%

Oppo 6 3%

Other 16 7%

Total 220 100%

Popular mobile brands

Other 7%

Oppo 3%

Samsung 22%

LG 5%

Nokia 36%

HTC 5%

Sony 4%

Apple 18%

From the above result, we can figure out that Nokia is the most popular
choice in university with 80 out of 220 votes (36%). The 2 nd and 3rd respectively
is Samsung and Apple with 49 and 39 out of 220 interviewed students.
Meanwhile, Oppo, Sony, HTC and other brands name account for very small
share, showing that the brands are not popular among university students.
Three most popular mobile brands are three high-quality big famous
mobile company in the world. The others are supposed to be less common

14
because the information about their products is relatively limited in mobile in
market.
6. Question 6: Evaluating students’ affordability
Number of phones which are bought at price level

Price
Quant Freque Mea Mo Medi Varian Standard
(million ity ncy n de an ce Deviation
dong)

<2.5 56 25.45%

2.5-4.5 45 20.45%

4.5-6.5 58 26.36%

6.5-8.5 18 8.18%
5.75 4.99 4.81 18.27 4.27
8.5-10.5 12 5.45%

10.5-12.5 3 1.36%

12.5-14.5 6 2.73%

>14.5 22 10.00%

Total 100.00
220
%

Number of telephones which are

bought at price level
70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
<2.5 2.5-4.5 4.5-6.5 6.5-8.5 8.5-10.5 10.5-12.5 12.5-14.5 >14.5

15
 The result shows that, among 220 people surveyed, 159 people paid 6.5
million or less for their handset, accounting for 72.26%. Given mean price
(average price) is 5.75 million dong per one phone.
Thus, we can conclude that the solvency of students for a phone is
below average level. This is fully consistent with the pockets of undergraduates,
the majority of whom are still financially dependent on their families.
From the above result, phone price has a huge influence on purchasing
decisions of students. In general, at low price level, people buy more mobile
phones and vice versa. With the result on price, we will construct a demand
function to see the effects of prices on the demand for mobile phones in the
viewpoint of students.
Given that:
 Causal criterion P: Phone purchasing money ( million dong)
 Consequent criterion Q: Number of phones which are bought at price
level (unit)
From table 1, we have:

∑𝑷 ∑𝑸 ∑ 𝑷𝟐 ∑ 𝑷𝑸 Variance Variance
N
of P of Q

8 68 220 746 1266 4.27 20.83

Suppose two related criteria have linear relationship, we build a linear

regression line which is a straight line represented by function: Q = a + bP.
In there:
 P is Causal criterion
 Q is Consequent criterion
 a is parameter
 b is linear regression coefficient
Simultaneous equation:
8a + 68b = 220
{
68a + 746b = 1266
Deduction:
a = 58.06
{
b = −3.6
We have linear regression equation: Q = 58.06 − 3.6P
𝜎𝑃
Correlation coefficients: 𝑟 = 𝑏. = − 0.74
𝜎𝑄

Comment:

16
  Because | r | = 0.74 is high, the relationship between the two criteria and
outputare relatively tight. This shows that phone prices have a huge
influence on students of Foreign Trade university demand for phone.
However, beside the price, there are many different criteria which affect
buying decision of students such as model, brand name, quality,
configure, etc.
 For r <0, the relationship between price and quantity demanded is
negatively correlated. This shows that the higher the price of phones, the
less students buy and vice versa, when the phone price falls, students will
tend to buy more phones. This result is entirely consistent with the law of
demand.
7. Question 7: Researching about students’ purposes of
using mobile phone
Purposes of using mobile phone Quantity Frequency

Phone call 165 44%

Applications 131 35%

Study 59 16%

Other 20 5%

Total 375 100%

Purpose of students' mobile phone

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0
Phone call Applications Study Other

From the gathered data, we have following conclusions:

17
 Students use mobile phone mostly for phone call, 44%. This is obvious
because it is the main function of mobile phone.
Besides that, students usually use mobile phone to use its applications.
This function accounts for 35%. As we can see, it is different for the past that we
now have modern smart phone with various applications such as games, social
network, etc.
Students have not used their mobile phone well as a help tool for their
study, 16%. However good applications are made for studying, they are not as
much attractive as other entertaining applications.

8. Question 8: Analyzing information about cell phone

market.

Students’ assessment of information on the cell phone market today

Characteristics of cell phone market Quantity Frequency

Multidimensionality 143 65%

Intricacy 48 22%

Precision 23 10%

Vacuity 6 3%

Total 220 100%

Student's assessment of information on

the cell phone market today
Vacuity

Precision

Intricacy

Multidimensionality

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

From the statistical table and the model, it’s easy to be seen that major
students claim that the information on the cell phone market today is too
multidimensional and intricate, which account for 87%.

18
 Those opinions may appear just because now there are too many
manufacturers, each one gives many information and different designs to
compete to each other on the market. Thus, it accidently jam the information
causing difficulties to customers when they want to buy a cell phone.

9. Question 9: Evaluating the quality of cell phones

The evaluation of students about the quality of cell phones

The quality of cell phone Quantity Frequency

Good 110 50%

Normal 98 45%

Poor 12 5%

Sum 220 100%

The evaluation on the

quality of cell phones
5%

50%
45%

Good Normal Poor

The data collected show that the students have really good feedback about
the quality of today's cell phones. Most of them say that the current cell phones
have Good or Normal quality, only 5% rate Poor. This is totally understandable
because with modern technology, the cell phone brands today constantly
improve both quality and designs of their products to increase their
competitiveness in the market.

19
 10. Question 10: Analyzing levels of learning information
when making decision to buy a cell phone.

Levels of learning information before buying a cell phone of students

Levels of learning information before buying a cell Quantity Frequency

phone

Do not learn anything 24 11%

Learn for a bit 122 55%

Learn a lot 74 34%

Total 220 100%

Levels of learning information

before buying a cell phone

11%

34%

55%

Do not learn anything Learn for a bit Learn a lot

When researching on levels of learning before buying a cell phone of

students, we can see that major students did learn information before buying,
maybe at a low level (account for 55%) or high (account for 34%). This show us
that students are rather carefully when they decide to buy a cell phone, also it is
pretty necessary when 87% students claim that information about cell phone
now is too multidimensional and intricate (follow the question 8).

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 11. Question 11: Assessing the influence of advertisement
on phone purchasing decision.
The influence of advertisement on phone purchasing decision of students

Level of influence Quantity Frequency

High 39 18%

Normal 148 67%

Not at all 33 15%

Total 220 100%

Advertising influence on phone

purchasing decision of student

15%
100%

80%
67%
60%

40%
18%
20%

0%

High Normal Not at all

This question is posed to study about the advertising influence on phone

purchasing decision of students of FTU. From the data collected, we see that
advertisementhas quite animpact on students' decision while choosing phones.
Up to 67 % of students said they had been influenced by advertising when
selecting the device, 18 % of students are affected greatly by advertising. This
figure also corresponds to the level of inquiries before buying phone of the
students.

21
 12. Question 12: Evaluating the satisfaction with the
current phone.
Evaluating the satisfaction with the current phone of the students.

Level of satisfaction Quantity Frequency

Yes 168 76%

No 52 24%

Total 220 100%

Satisfaction with the current phone of the

student

24%

76%

Yes No

Finally, when reseach about the level of students’ satisfaction with theỉr
current phone, we see 76 % of them said that they feel good, others are not
satisfied. Thus, to choose a suitable mobile phone which can satisfy the needs of
themselves, the students need to be based on multiple criteria such as price,
design, quality, brand names... Still, not all students are able to choose a handset
matching their requirements.

22
 Chapter 4: CONCLUSION
From the results of the research, we already have an overview of how
students, specifically, FTU students, assess today’s mobile phone market, and
their interests in buying this kind of devices. Of all the criteria, price is the most
important element in buying decision, then the quality itself comes at the second
place. Students often buy mobile phones at the price in between 5 and 7.5
million VND, commonly down from 6.5 million VND, which is a reasonable
price for undergraduates. When buying a phone, they, in one way or another, go
find information about their intended phone, mostly from their acquaintances or
online sources. As we can see, they are quite careful and cautious in choosing a
mobile phone, caring not only about prices and information sources, but also
about brand names. At this moment, Nokia and Samsung still remain two most
popular brand names among students due to their affordable prices and
fashionable designs. Meanwhile, Apple is still a desire to most of students (when
they were asked about their favourite brands). Besides, Android operating
system, with their outstanding features, is becoming more and more popular in
this segmented market.
Another conclusion can be drawn from the survey is that most of the
mobile phones on sales nowadays have acceptable and good quality; however,
because of harsh competition among mobile phone firms, public information is
getting quite intricate, which makes it hard for consumers to make decisions.
Advertisements do have some effects on buying behaviours of consumers. Most
importantly, wider range of choices does bring a higher level of satisfaction for
students when buying a phone not only for communication but also for
entertainment and education purposes. Although many efforts have been put into
this research, we cannot avoid some unintentionally subjective perspectives and
academic mistakes. However, we hope that this report is of practical values,
especially for undergraduates in general and FTU students in particular, in their
later and more intensive research.

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 PARTICIPATION EVALUATION

Member’s name Student ID Participation

Assessment (%)

Vũ Hoàng Anh 1313340007 20%

Phạm Thị Thanh Thúy 1314340049 20%

Quách Thị Thu Trang 1313340051 20%

Đặng Trần Sơn Tùng 1313340053 20%

Nguyễn Thanh Tùng 1312340054 20%

24