Factors affecting brand choice behavior of laptop purchases of university students in Nepal

Abstract

The aim of the study is to better understand the brand choice behaviors of university students in Nepal. The study uses brand personality, product attributes, social factors, and pricing factors as independent variables, with brand choosing behavior as a dependent variable. The deductive approach is used in this research. Structured survey questionnaires with a 6-point Likert scale were used to collect the main data. The study’s participants are university students who utilize laptop computers. A simple random sampling method was used. The sample size for the study is 259 university students. The acquired primary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and structural equation modeling. According to the findings of regression path analysis, brand personality has no positive significant impact on brand choice behavior among university students when it comes to laptop purchases. In the purchase of a laptop by university students in Nepal, researchers discovered that product attributes, social factors, and price have a positive significant effect on brand choosing behavior. In the purchase of laptops by university students in Nepal, product pricing has a greater impact on brand selection than any other consideration.

Keywords:

• Brand personality
• product features
• social factors
• price
• brand choice behavior

JEL Classification Code:

• C12
• L94
• M31
• Y10

Public Interest Statement

Almost all educational institutions around the world switched from offline to online training after the pandemic broke out. As a result, students now need a laptop to participate in online classes. As a result, the goal of this research is to determine the characteristics that influence university students’ brand selection behavior while purchasing laptops. Product attributes, social variables, and pricing all have a substantial impact on university students’ brand selection behavior when purchasing laptops in Nepal, according to the study’s findings. When it comes to buying a laptop, the pricing element has the most impact on a student’s brand preference, followed by the social component and the characteristics of the laptop.

Background of the Study

With the beginning of globalization, the global standard of education has become essential. Technological advancement has changed the methods of locating and delivering quality education. The use of laptops and other digital diaries has become an integral part of today’s students’ study kit for quality education. After the COVID-19 pandemic, all the universities have been conducting teaching–learning process through the online system in Nepalese universities. At this crucial time, the laptop has become the most essential part for university students for their learning. So, researchers are going to identify the factors affecting the brand choice behavior in laptop buying.

Si and Cullen (1998) defined that the consumer buying decision is a process and activity customers engage in searching for, selecting, purchasing, using, evaluating, and disposing of products and services to satisfy their needs and desires. Consumer decision-making consists of making decision regarding information, evaluating it, and selecting the best possible choice to solve the problem.

Engel et al. (1995) demonstrated the most recognized consumer purchase decision-making model. This model divides the consumer purchase decision process into five steps such as: (1) problem recognition, (2) search of information, (3) evaluation of alternatives, (4) purchase decision, and (5) post-purchase evaluation. It can be observed as an impulse buying behavior. Partially planned buying means that consumers only decide a product category and the specification before buying a product, and brands and types will be decided in the shop later. Fully planned buying means that consumers decide which product and brand to buy before entering the shop. Purchase decision refers to the behavior of a person that how he/she thinks about a particular product and what comes into his/her mind first about it and what would he think or do when he/she purchases the same product of the same brand. There may be negative and positive impacts on that particular product. The tendency of her/him to react based on their past actions. Here, the individual is likely to report his/her habit rather than intention when responding to the intention (Warshaw & Davis, 1985).

Consumer decision-making process may vary across goods and services, but all consumers pass through similar process. This study will help the marketers to know the various steps in the whole process of decision-making of consumers for the final purchase of their required goods and services. Therefore, this study is supported by the consumer purchasing decision model.

Most business companies are planning their marketing strategies to obtain competitive advantages and increase their profits, as well as to make their goods stand out from competition. The main objective of marketing is the success of the firm in creating a brand name that can differentiate between its companies and others.

According to Venkatesh et al. (2008), a brand is one of the company’s intangible assets, which helps the company succeeds and increases its market value. It is an important component of a company’s distinction from its rivals in terms of what it offers. Individuals buying a particular brand may not only rely on the products to achieve maximum profit but individuals may also communicate their personalities through the symbolic meaning of the product (Slaughter et al., 2004).

“A strong brand helps to establish and identify the brand in the market place, reducing vulnerability to competitive actions, leading to larger margins, greater intermediary co-operation and support to establish a successful brand image to consumers, and increasing the likelihood that consumers will purchase the brands” (Aaker, 1996a). He further suggested that brand helps in building and establishing brand image in the market place and distinguishing the brand or product from others.

Consumer buying decisions are a complex process. Purchasing behavior is an essential part for the customer to measure and assess a particular product. Buying intention could be affected by the price factor and perceived quality of the product. Moreover, the buying decision of a consumer can be determined by internal and external appealing factors during the buying decision (Gogoi, 2013). Kotler and Armstrong (2010) have proposed six steps for the purchase decision of the product, such as brand awareness, knowledge about the product, interest towards the brand, brand preference, persuasion, and purchase of brand.

Purchasing decisions are behavioral consequences that lead to distinction between various alternatives (Dhar et al., 1999). They described that customer decision-making and brand selection processes are more difficult. Based on their tastes, experiences, and brand awareness, the customer selects from a variety of products. A buying decision refers to how a person thinks about a product and what comes to mind first when thinking about it, as well as what they would think or do if they bought a similar product from the same brand. When responding to the intention, the buyer is more likely to report his or her habit than purchasing intention (Warshaw & Davis, 1985).

The fierce competition in the market for product similarity has forced marketers to consider factors that influence consumers’ brand preference behavior, as well as the importance of dealing with rivals and shifting customer preferences and tastes (Das, 2012). Nowadays, the marketing landscape and consumers’ tastes and desires are continuously evolving, and consumers exhibit a wide range of behavior, including unpredictable and surprising purchasing patterns (Nakmongkol, 2009).

In the aforementioned situations, it is becoming essential for the organization to understand diversified needs, wants, desires, and preferences of the consumers and produce products accordingly (Batra, 2015). Marketers should understand customer’s profile about why they prefer one brand over competitors to make a strong brand (Njuguna, 2014). The main issue of management is to make a strong brand (Aaker & Equity, 1991). Different companies are introducing laptop brands to the market, including Lenovo, Dell, LG, Acer, Toshiba, Apple, HP, Asus, Samsung, and others.

With a growing market, laptop-producing firms are competing with each other in the competitive market with their products to capture the attention of consumers. Many studies have been conducted to identify the factors influencing brand choice and why customers prefer one brand over other brands in a particular product category. Several factors might influence the choice of different product categories. There are various studies which have been conducted to identify the factors influencing the brand choice of laptop, but the findings of research have not shown similar results.

Different factors such as features of the product, product price, product quality, the appearance of the product, brand image, country of origin, promotion factor, and social factors have been used to examine the purchasing behavior of products. However, results from these studies are inconsistent (Jin et al., 2010).

According to Henry and Quansah (2013), consumers will pay more for a brand if they believe that it is more important than competing brands in the market in a similar product category. The features of the laptop, according to Engel et al. (1995), are a significant factor that influences the purchasing decision. According to Ramya and Ali (2016), the social aspect has a huge impact on buying decisions.

In this way, researchers have found contradictory results of research on the same topic, which were conducted in different situations and different times and in different countries. So, researchers have to further investigate the overall impact of these factors such as brand personality, product features, social influence, and price factors on brand preference.

All of these pertinent studies were undertaken in developed and developing economies, and to the best of our knowledge, there is very little literature found in the Nepalese context. Thus, our study fills this gap in the literature by investigating the brand preference behaviour on laptop purchases in the Nepalese context.

Contribution of the study

The main objective of the study is to explore the factors affecting consumer brand choice behavior in laptop buying in the case of university students in Nepal.

This study will contribute to the theory of consumer behavior by providing a validated theoretical framework. In addition, this study develops and tests a research model to explain the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.

In addition, the study contributes in the well defining and confirming the factors that affect to consumer brand choice in laptop buying in the Nepalese context.

This study can be helpful for marketing managers to develop marketing strategies regarding laptop selling. The findings of the study may suggest a way to build strong brand-loyal customers in laptop products.

This research will also provide more significant insights into the enduring value of consumer behavior and evaluate the consistency of consumer behavior.

The remaining section of the paper is structured as follows: The research hypothesis is developed in Section 2 by summarizing the existing literature. Section 3 is concerned with the general research methods/approaches, Section 4 is concerned with the empirical results, and Section 5 ends with the conclusion and the implications of the study.

Literature review and hypotheses

Brand personality

Brand personality is a human trait which is associated with a specific brand. Venkatesh et al. (2008) defined that the brand personality is the brand which is selling to the target customers by the firm. Brand personality is an indispensable part of the constructional origins of the brand identity prism. Brand personality refers to the set of human traits that is associated with a brand (Aaker, 1997b).

Hardjono et al. (2019) discovered that brand personality traits such as honesty, integrity, sophistication, and robustness have a positive influence on Gen Y’s preference in deciding brand choices for sportswear, whereas the personalities of excitement components have not been shown to have a significant impact.

Rai (2021) conducted research into the factors that affecting consumers’ smartphone purchase intentions in Nepal, and he discovered that brand personality has no positive impact on smartphone purchase intention. It was also found that when buying a smartphone in Nepal, the price of the smartphone and product characteristics have a major impact on customer purchase intent. Brand personality has a significant effect on brand loyalty (Aaker, 1996a). Plummer (1985) defined, “Brand personality has a direct impact on purchasing behavior”.

According to Aaker (1997b), consumer buying decisions could be influenced by brand personality. Mulyanegara and Tsarenko (2009) investigated that the brand choice behavior is heavily influenced by brand personality. According to the results of many studies, the brand personality has a positive impact on consumer attitudes toward the brand (Jamal & Goode, 2001; Sirgy, 1982; Wee, 2004). The brand personality aspect is critical in the creation of consumer perceptions and expectations of customer behavior toward the company’s goods (Shavitt, 1989).

According to Lee and Kang (2013), brand personality influences the consumer–brand relationship and brand preference. In hospitality marketing, Kim et al. (2011) confirmed previous findings of a substantial direct effect of brand personality on consumer preferences. The consumer’s view of a brand personality has an effect on their brand preferences (Phau & Lau, 2000). Riyas and Herath (2016) discovered that purchase intention of the customers can be influenced by the brand personality in the umbrella buying in Sri Lanka.

H1:

There is a significant impact of brand personality on brand choice behavior

Product features

Lay-Yee et al. (2013) stated that the feature is an attribute of a product to meet the satisfaction level of consumers’ needs and wants, through owning of the product, usage, and utilization of a product. Product features include hardware and software. Hardware is the description for a device that can be touched physically. Software is the general term for computer programs, procedures, and documentation. The software refers to the operating platform and storage memory.

According to Lay-Yee et al. (2013), a product function is an attribute of a product that meets the degree of fulfillment of customers’ needs and desires by the use of a product. Product features include the product’s software and hardware. The term “hardware” refers to the description of a device that can be physically touched and seen. The word “software” refers to all computer systems, processes, and documentation. The operating system, storage memory, and applications that run on a laptop are all examples of software. Essentially, consumers use product attributes as cues to determine their brand preference (Romaniuk & Sharp, 2003).

Alamro et al. (2011) also discovered that features of the product have significant effects on the brand choice behavior. Product features are regarded as a critical component of brand knowledge, and they consistently add value to brand choice behavior (Keller, 1993; Park & Srinivasan, 1994). Brand equity and brand preference are influenced by both tangible and intangible product attributes (Myers, 2003).

“Rather than liking preference, the quantitative definition of a product characteristic affects brand preference” (Hsee et al., 2009). Grimm (2005) explored that features of the product have a significant influence on the brand preference.

According to Decker and Trusov (2010), product features play a significant role in the development of customer preferences for high-tech goods. “The product feature has a major influence on customer smartphone purchasing intentions in Nepal” (Rai, 2021). According to Nair et al. (2016), product quality is the most important factor that influences brand choice behavior and followed by cell phone features in purchasing. The most favored elements of the “look and feel” of mobile phones are the touch screen, design, and style.

Many factors like technology factors, hardware factors, software factors, social factors, price factors, brand factors, and financial factors are the fundamental factors which influence the purchase intention. Moreover, the technology and hardware factors have a significant effect on young students’ choice while purchasing a smartphone (Sujata, 2016).

Essentially ram, brand, HDC, graphics card memory, and processors are provided importance by the majority of male consumers. At the time of purchase, laptop consumers are more aware of choosing the product feature. Consumers purchase laptops which are more comfortable and highly configured in all ways (Rajan, 2018).

Tania (2012) carried out the research on the topic of factors affecting teachers’ laptop purchases in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Researcher found that there is a significant influence of technical features, special features, values, and mobility branding on consumer’s laptop purchase.

Pongantung et al. (2019) conducted research on the topic of factors driving student’s purchase decision in the selection of laptops at Sam Ratulangi University. The researchers found that the product attributes such as product quality, operating system of laptop, and price factor have a significant influence on the purchase decision of students of Sam Ratulangi University. Moreover, entertainment factor and promotional factors are also seemed as the more influencing factors for purchase decision of students at Sam Ratulangi University.

Kumar (2011) did research on the topic of factors influencing the consumer buying behavior for laptops purchase in India. Researcher found that brand value, cheapest price of laptop, after-sale service, and attractiveness of store have more significant influence on the laptop purchase decision of consumers. Ingavale et al. (2012) carried out a research paper to identify the factors affecting consumer brand preference in the smartphone buying. They explored the key features of cell phones that students considered when purchasing a smartphone.

Nasır et al. (2006) conducted research on the topic of factors influencing consumers’ laptop purchases. They found that there is significant influence of technical features, price and payment conditions, connectivity and mobility, post-purchase service, value-added features, physical appearance, and after-sale service hashave significant influence on the consumer’s laptop purchase.

H2:

There is a positive significant impact of product features on brand choice behavior

Social factors

Social factors are those which are prevalent in society and where consumers live in. Family members, friends, relatives, and co-workers are the social factors which influence in the consumer buying behavior. Thomson et al. (2007) defined social factors are those factors that influence feelings, attitude, thoughts, and behavior of consumers. It happens due to the interaction with other people that know each other such as parents and peers.

Elammari and Cavus (2019) did research to explore the factors influencing the brand choice in smartphone buying. They found that brand image, product features, and social factors have a significant effect on students’ brand choice, but the price has no significant influence on students’ brand choice in smartphone buying. According to Farzana (2012), when purchasing high-involvement goods, consumers are influenced by others, especially family members and friends. A consumer’s behavior is determined by social factors, like the consumer’s small groups, family members, and friends (Kotler & Armstrong, 2012).

Ting et al. (2011) did research on the topic of factors affecting purchase intention towards smartphones. They found that social factors have a significant impact on students’ dependency on smartphones. Indeed, social influence plays a significant role in smartphone buying, and it is the most influential to students’ dependency on smartphones (Lee & Kang, 2013). Researchers described that there is a positive significant relationship between social factors and purchase intention.

Rahim et al. (2016) conducted research work on the purchase intention of university students towards smartphone buying. They discovered that three variables, including brand image, product features, and social factors, have a major impact on purchasing intention in the purchase of a smartphone, but product sacrifice has no impact on brand selection. Rai (2020) did research on the topic of purchase decision of consumers in Nepal. He discovered that social factors have a major influence on smartphone purchasing decisions in Nepal. According to Nelson and McLeod (2005), the media, peers, parents, friends, andfamily members have a significant impact on smartphone buying.

Sata (2013) carried out research work to examine customer behavior at the time of purchasing the smartphone. Researcher discovered that price and product features have a huge impact on cell phone purchases. Family members are regarded as the most important component of the initial reference of society, which has a significant impact on customer purchasing behavior (Thomson et al., 2007).

H3:

There is a significant impact of social factor on brand choice behavior

Product price

Price is the exchange value of goods and services. Price is the amount of money that is paid by consumers to obtain the goods and services. Price is one of the most important factors, which affects consumer’s choice to purchase a particular product or brand. According to the law of demand, as the price of a commodity increases, the demand for the same decreases. “Price is the amount of money charged for a product or service, or the sum of the values that customers exchange for the benefits of having or using the product or service” (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).

Rai (2020) carried out research to explore the factors affecting the purchase decision in smartphone buying. He explored that the purchase decision is heavily influenced by the price of the smartphone in the buying in Nepalese context. Sultan et al. (2016) carried out research paper to identify the influence of price, quality, and brand image on laptop buying among university students in Karachi. They identified that there is a significant influence of price, quality of the product and brand image on the buying of laptops among university students in Karachi. The price perception of the products affects the consumer’s buying decision of a product. The price perception of the product explains information about a product (Kotler & Keller, 2016). Therefore, price is a major factor in customer purchasing decisions for frequently purchased goods, and it affects choice of the shop, product, and brand to patronize (Njuguna, 2014).

Price is a major factor in customer choice and brand preferences (Erdem et al., 2006). Ayodele and Ifeanyichukwu (2016) did a research work to identify the factors affecting the brand choice of smartphone among adults. They found that brand choice behavior is significantly influenced by the attributes of the smartphone among adults and it was also found out that the brand choice behavior is influenced by the price of smartphone in the buying among the adults.

Lakshika and Malkanthie (2017) conducted research work in Sri Lanka to find out the brand choice behavior in hair dye buying. They found that the quality, product features, brand image, and price have a significant influence on the brand choice behavior of hair dye buying, whereas promotion has no significant influence on brand preference and friends and family do not have any significant influence on the brand choice of hair dye.

H4:

There is a significant impact of product price on brand choice behavior.

Research gap

Consumer buying decision-making process is a complex phenomenon. Various types of variables have been used to measure consumer buying decision-making.

Kumar (2011) did research to explore the factors affecting consumer behavior in laptop buying. Researcher found that the brand value, price, and after-sale service have a significant influence on consumer behavior. Tania (2012) had used the price, quality, and operating system of a laptop and found that there is a significant influence on consumer behavior. Pongantung et al. (2019) conducted a research to explore the factors affecting consumer behavior in laptop buying and found that there is a significant influence on consumer buying. However, none of the researchers used all these four variables such as brand personality, product features, social factors, and price factors to measure the consumer brand choice behavior of consumers in laptop buying. Similarly, in the Nepalese context, such type of model has not been used to measure brand choice behavior in laptop buying.

Conceptual Framework

There are several factors that might influence the brand choice behavior in laptop buying. Based on the above literature review, brand personality, product attributes, social factors, and product price are used as independent variables to assess brand choice behavior in the laptop purchase. So, the following conceptual framework has been established to carry out the analysis in a systematic way (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Conceptual Framework.

Research methodology

Research methodology covers the type of research design used for undertaking population and sample, sampling process, instruments of data collection procedures, and analytical approach used to analyze the data and develop the relationship between factors influencing consumer buying behavior.

Research design and philosophy

Research design is an overall framework or plan for the activities to be undertaken during the course of research activities. The descriptive and causal research design of the study has been used in the study which is based on primary data.

The philosophical assumption is the theoretical framework used by researchers to collect analyses and interpret the data. The research philosophy relates to the researcher’s perspective of reality and how it is explained and its relationship to the developed knowledge (Saunders et al., 2009). This research has focused on identifying the effect of brand personality, product features, social factors, and product prices on consumers’ brand choice behavior in laptop buying. The research has focused on a post-positivist epistemology that seeks objectivity through rational reasoning and employs a structured methodology with a pre-determined hypothesis.

Sample and procedure

Primary sources of data were used for the research. Primary data were collected by using the convenient sampling method. A closed-ended questionnaire was used to gather the information needed to conduct the proposed analysis. A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents, but only 259 completed and usable questionnaires were received from the respondents which include the laptop users of university students of Nepal. Therefore, the study’s sample size was 259.

Nepalese university students are the sample frame of the study. As a result, the study’s target population is Nepalese university students who use laptop computers. The primary data was used in the analysis.

Measures instruments

The questionnaire survey is the most popular tools for data collection. The researchers used a set of structured questionnaires which was administered to the target respondents and their responses and opinions were collected.

Self-administered structured questionnaires were developed to collect quantitative data pertaining to the various aspects of brand personality, product features, social factors, and product price and consumer choice behavior.

The measurement scales were developed as Likert-type statements, which were asked to respondents by indicating their degree of agreement and disagreement using a 6-point Likert-type scale anchoring of 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = somewhat disagree, 4 = somewhat agree, 5 = agree, and 6 = strongly agree. This 6-point Likert scale was similar with (Dhanabalan et al., 2018; Ong & Zien Yusoff, 2015). “The presence of a 5-point Likert scale with a middle point of ‘3’ ‘neither agree nor disagree’ will interfere with the findings of the study due to social desirability bias” (Garland, 1991). Additionally, he argued that the respondents from Asian countries are more likely than those Western countries to select the middle category option (Si & Cullen, 1998). It was also revealed that an even number response scale has higher validity and reliability than an odd number response scale (Birkett, 1986; Coelho & Esteves, 2007). By following these reasons, the researchers have used the 6-point Likert scale in the study.

Analytical approach

The characteristics of the observed data were defined using descriptive analysis. The situation is defined by using the mean and standard deviation. The relationship between independent variables and brand choice behavior was investigated using correlation analysis.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to identify factor loadings, and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to ensure reliability and validity. Structural equation modeling was carried out to identify the influence of all four brand personality, product feature, price, and social factor on the brand choice behavior by using the SPSS AMOS 23.

Data analysis and result

Descriptive and correlation analysis

The collected primary data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. In the first phase, the mean, standard deviation, and correlation were used to analyze the primary data, and the results of mean, standard deviation, and correlation analysis are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Descriptive Statistics and Correlation Analysis

Variables	Mean	S.D	SF	PR	BP	PF	BC
SF	4.84	.70	1
PR	5.11	.64	.158*	1
BP	4.73	.70	.193**	.064*	1
PF	5.00	.72	.336**	.131*	.104*	1
BC	4.21	.70	.204**	−.043**	.330*	.275**	1

**Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The behavior decision scale was used to rank the entire dependent and independent variables, with a score of 1 for “strongly disagree” and 6 for “strongly agree.” According to Table 1, the mean scores for the social factor, price factor, brand personality, and product features are 4.84, 5.11, 4.73, and 5.00, respectively. This means that the majority of respondents agree on brand choice behavior, and four independent variables are found to have a substantial impact on brand choice behavior. Brand choice behavior has a mean score of 4.21; this means that there is a significant effect of these four independent variables on brand choice behavior among university students. Besides this, the value of standard deviation of social factors, price, product features, brand personality, and brand choice behavior is less than 1. This reveals that the data are consistent with a minimum value of 1 to a maximum value of 6.

The correlation matrix between the variables under investigation is also presented in Table 1. It shows that when university students buy a laptop, there is a strong positive correlation between social factors and brand choice behavior (r = 0.204, p < 0.05), but there is no significant relationship between price and brand choice behavior (r = −0.043, p > 0.05). There is a significant relationship between brand personality and brand choice behavior (r = 0.330, p < 0.05), and there is a significant relationship between product features and brand choice behavior (r = 0.275, p < 0.05). All of the p-values are statistically significant (p < 0.05). As a result, the independent variables (brand personality, social factor, and product features) and brand choice behavior have a positive significant relationship in laptop buying. But, it is also found that there is no significant relationship between price and brand choice behavior in laptop buying. According to the findings of this analysis, there is a strong positive significant relationship between brand personality and brand choice behavior, between features of product and brand choice behavior, as well as between social factors and brand choice behavior, and there is no correlation between price and brand choice behavior of the Nepalese university student in the laptop buying.

Exploratory factor analysis

The validity of the constructs was identified using exploratory factor. Each construct’s factor loadings were found to range from 0.674 to 0.977. All the values of each construct are greater than 0.5, which is the cutoff point proposed by Hair et al. (2010). KMO statistics value is 0.718, and the p-value is less than 0.05 (p < 0.05), indicating that factor analysis is sufficient since the KMO value must be greater than 0.6 and it must be significant (Kaiser & Rice, 1974).

Confirmatory factor analysis

To validate the results of exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis has been carried out. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out using SPSS AMOS 23 with a sample size of 259. Byrne (2010) and Si and Cullen (1998) suggested the model fit criteria for measurement models such as Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Goodness-of-Fit Index (GFI), Adjusted Goodness-of-Fit Index (AGFI), Root Mean Square Error of the Approximation (RMSEA), Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR), CMIN/DF, and PLCOSE, and these models were used for measurement model. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was carried out to test the hypotheses. The model fit indices were tested before testing the hypotheses. To identify the overall model, multiple fit indices have been presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Models Fit Indices of Overall Measurement Model

Final Model	No. of Scale Items	Fit Indices
		CMIN/DF	CFI	GFI	AGFI	RMSEA	SRMR	PCLOSE
		<3	>.90	>.90	>.8	<.05	<.05	<0.05
Model Value	17	1.849	0.964	0.926	0.897	0.054	0.060	0.284
Results		Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent	Excellent
Remarks	No need of model improvement

Table 2 shows the value of CMIN/DF (1.849), which is lower than the cutoff value by Byrne (2010) and Si and Cullen (1998). As a result, this model is deemed suitable for further analysis. The value of Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (0.054) is also within the recommended range of lower than 0.8.

The values of CFI, GFI, AGFI, SRMR, and PCLOSE are within the recommended cutoff range values by Byrne (2010) and Si and Cullen (1998). As a result, all of the model fit values mentioned earlier are within the acceptable range. As a result, it is considered to be feasible to carry out the analysis for the structural model. It seems to be feasible to carry out the analysis of the results of the structural model.

Validity and reliability

Structural equation modeling (SEM) has been carried out for the analysis of structural model. In total, 15 items were used to assess the five constructs. Before testing the model, the appropriateness of composite reliability, appropriateness of instrument reliability, average variance extracted, discriminant validity, and convergent validity were evaluated. Table 3 summarizes the results of the tests.

Table 3. An Overview of Reliability and Validity Measures

Constructs	CR	AVE	MSV	MaxR(H)	BCA	PRI	BPA	SFA	PFA
SFA	0.960	0.825	0.588	0.099	0.968	0.767
BPA	0.965	0.858	0.674	0.035	0.987	0.186**	0.821
PAF	0.876	0.806	0.558	0.099	0.975	0.315***	0.052	0.747
PRI	0.870	0.823	0.563	0.033	0.907	0.181**	−0.044	0.112†	0.751

No Validity Concern

The reliability and validity of the study were identified. Composite reliability (CR) of the CFA model was carried out to evaluate the reliability of the constructs in the measurement model.

In terms of convergent validity, the value of convergent validity must be greater than 0.5 (AVE>0.5), the value of composite reliability (CR) must be more than 0.7 (CR > .7), and the value of composite reliability (CR) must be higher than the value of average variance extracted (AVE) (Bagozzi & Baumgartner, 1994). Table 3 shows that all the values of AVE are greater than 0.5 ranging from 0.651 to 0.902, all composite reliability (CR) values are greater than 0.7, ranging from 0.846 to 0.965, and all CR values are greater than AVE, showing the convergent validity.

The values of AVE must be higher than the values of maximum shared variance (MSV) and inter-construct correlations in order to have discriminant validity (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). The study’s findings revealed that all AVE values are greater than MSV (AVE > MSV). As a result, both of the above-mentioned assumptions are supported by the discriminant validity criterion. Table 3 shows no concerns about validity.

Structural model of the study

The structural model was used to empirically measure the predefined hypothesized relationship between the variables and constructs of the study. Two indices may be used to analyze the structural model. The first is the path coefficient (β), which represents the relationship between dependent and independent variables, and the second is the R² values, which represent the value of variance explained by independent variables and reflect the predictive power of the proposed model.

The multivariate test of the structural model revealed that the social factor, brand personality, product features, and price factor together explained 40% of the variance in brand choice behavior when purchasing a laptop among the university students. Figure 2 depicts a path diagram with the structural model estimating the paths, with the estimated parameters being significant path coefficients, three paths of the coefficients are significant at the 95% level, and one path of coefficient is not significant.

Figure 2. Structural Model.

Table 4 clearly indicated that the brand personality has no significant impact on laptop brand choice behavior (β = –0.04; p = 0.541), which is in contradiction the hypothesis (H₁). This finding revealed that brand personality has no substantial impact on brand choice behavior of laptops buying among university students. The result has confirmed that hypothesis (H₂), which indicated that the features of the product have a significant impact on the brand choice behavior in the Laptop purchase (β = 0.215, p = 000). The result also supported the Hypothesis (H₃) since the social factor (β = 0.215; p = 0.020) is the most important factor in explaining the brand choice behavior of laptop buyers.

Table 4. Summary of Hypotheses Testing Result

D.V	Path	I.V	Estimate (β)	S.E	C.R	P	Result
BCB	<—	BPA	0–.04	.073	0–.611	.541	Not Supported
BCB	<—	PAF	0.215	.061	3.493	***	Supported
BCB	<—	SFA	0.215	.092	2.332	.020	Supported
BCB	<—	PRI	0.299	.063	4.774	***	Supported

Similarly, the results of the laptop buying analysis (β = 0.299; p = 0.000) support the hypothesis (H₄). This finding verified that product price has significant influence on the brand choice behavior in the laptop buying of students of the university.

So, the results of the research revealed that product features, social factors, and price factors all have a significant impact on brand choice behavior in the laptop purchases among Nepalese university students, but the brand personality has no significant impact on buying laptop.

Discussion

Major objective of this research paper is to examine the factors affecting the brand choice behavior of university students in Nepal in laptop buying. This paper identified the influence of brand personality, product features, social factors, and price factors on brand choice behavior of university students in Nepal. This research paper contributes both theoretically and practically. According to the findings of the report, brand personality has no significant impact on university students’ brand choice behavior when purchasing laptops. As a result, this finding does not support hypothesis (H₁). This result contradicts with the findings of Mulyanegara and Tsarenko (2009), Riyas and Herath (2016), and Lee and Kang (2013) that they found that there was a positive significant impact on brand personality, brand choice behavior, and purchase intention. However, this result is consistent with the finding of Rai (2021) that brand personality has no significant impact on purchasing intention in the purchase of smartphones in Nepal.

The result of the path analysis of the structural equation modeling (SEM) support hypotheses (H₂), (H₃), and (H₄). The findings of the study revealed that the features of laptop have a significant effect on the university students’ brand choice behavior. This result supports the findings of Romaniuk and Sharp (2003), Alamro and Roewley (2011), Rai (2021), and Rajan (2018) that product features have a major impact on brand choice behavior and purchasing intention. The beta (β) coefficient of product attribute factor is 0.215, which means that when product attributes go up by 1, then brand choice behavior goes up by 0.215.

Similarly, the statistical results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that social factor has a significant impact on laptop brand choice behavior among university students. This result is also consistent with the findings of Rai (2020), Sata (2013), and Elammari and Cavus (2019); they found that social factors have a major impact on brand preference behavior and purchase intention. The beta (ß) coefficient of social factor is also 0.215, and this means when social factor goes up by 1, and then brand choice behavior goes up by 0.215.

Finally, the statistical result provides strong evidence of price factor effect to the brand choice behavior in the laptop buying among students of university in Nepal. This result of the findings is also consistent with the findings of Ayodele and Ifeanyichukwu (2016), Lakshika and Malkanthie (2017), Sultan et al. (2016), and Erdem et al. (2006); they found that price has a major impact on brand choice behavior. The beta (β) coefficient of price factor is 0.299, which means that when the price factor goes up by 1, then the brand choice behavior goes up by 0.299.

The study’s results will provide theoretical guideline to the research practitioner. These findings will also be useful for marketers for the implications of these findings to laptop industry. The findings of this research work might provide new theoretical insights into the factors that influence the customer’s brand choice behavior and preference. Marketing managers may use the results of the study as a realistic marketing tool to better prepare and formulate their marketing plans. The findings of the research showed that the features of the product, social factor, and price of the product have a significant influence on the brand choice behavior towards laptop, but brand personality has no significant influence on the brand choice behavior among the students of the university towards laptop.

As a result, marketers might have an idea for designing the marketing mixes and can invent a marketing strategy in order to boost sales in a competitive market. This research paper would help firms develop a better concept for understanding the factors that influence customer brand choice behavior when buying laptops on the market.

Future researchers will use these research findings to learn more about users’ brand choice behavior, how to stimulate their brand choice behavior, and how to increase sales by understanding the factors influencing brand choice behavior.

Conclusion

The main aim of the study was to identify the factors influencing brand selection behavior in the laptop buying behavior among the students of the university. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). This research work is done to explore the influence of brand personality, product features, social factors, and product price factors on consumers’ brand choice behavior of laptops buying of university students in Nepal. The study’s findings do not support hypothesis (H₁). As a result, it is concluded that the brand personality has no significant impact on consumers’ brand choice behavior when purchasing a laptop among Nepalese university students. However, the findings of the research paper support hypotheses (H₂), (H₃), and (H₄). As a result, it can be concluded that product features, social factors, and price factors all have a major impact on university students’ brand choice behavior when purchasing laptops in Nepal. The price factor has strong influence on a student’s brand preference when purchasing a laptop and is followed by the social factor and the features of laptop.

Finally, it is concluded that product features, social factor, and product price factors have a significant influence on band choice behavior, but brand personality has no significant impact on brand choice behavior among university students in the laptop purchasing in Nepal.

Implications

The research findings of the study provide theoretical guideline to a practitioner as well as to researchers. It is hoped that the result of the research paper can provide new theoretical insights into the factors affecting consumer brand choice behavior. This model can be used for further study in other contexts, other products, and adding other variables. Based on this model, further qualitative study can also be carried out which may provide insight and in-depth understanding regarding the consumer brand choice behavior.

The application of this study is the most important for marketers in the field of laptop. The findings of this paper can be applied as practical marketing tools to the marketing manager for formulating marketing strategies regarding consumer behavior. The result of the study showed that there is significant influence of product price, product features, and social factors on the consumer brand choice behavior and there is no significant impact of brand personality on the consumer choice behavior in the laptop buying. Therefore, the findings of the study would be helpful to the laptop companies to understand the consumer behavior and formulating the marketing policies and strategies. It would also be helpful for the laptop sellers and laptop companies for how to increase the sales of laptop in the market. The confirmation of the impact of price factors, features factors, and social factors on consumer brand choice behavior of laptop should also be taken into account in the design of promotional strategies. The marketing strategies of the company need to focus on the role of price, reference groups, and features of the laptop on consumer behavior. Moreover, it provides valuable suggestions to the companies about product features, product price, social factors, and brand personality.

Limitations and future research direction

There are some limitations which might limit the findings of the study. First of all, only the sample size of 259 has been taken from the students of Nepalese universities in Kathmandu which might limit the research findings regarding the factors influence of brand choice behavior of students toward laptop. Therefore, to improve the generalizability of the result and to draw accurate and holistic results, it is suggested to enlarge the coverage of sample selection to the future researcher. The finding of the study is based on only quantitative approach. Therefore, it is recommended to conduct a qualitative study that provides insight and in-depth understanding of consumer behavior in the future. Only four independent variables such as brand personality, product features, product price, and social factors are undertaken to examine the consumer brand choice behavior. Therefore, it is suggested that the additional variables which are not captured in this research such as brand image, self-congruity, after-sale services, free repair and maintenance services, advertisement, etc., can be used to explore the real impact on consumer brand choice behavior to the future researcher. Another limitation of the study is that it explores the impact of independent variables on consumer brand choice behavior on only one product category like laptop and potentially it might limit the generalizability to other domains; therefore, it is recommended for future researchers to carry out research on other product categories and brand also. Additionally, this study has been undertaken the non-probability convenient sampling. Therefore, the findings of this research cannot be generalized to the population due to the nature of sampling method. Therefore, it is recommended for future researchers to conduct research on consumer brand choice behavior from different age groups from various places by using probability sampling method.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Bharat Rai

Bharat Rai is a senior faculty in the Marketing Department at Nepal’s Tribhuvan University. He graduated from Tribhuvan University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Mr. Rai has presented papers at various national and international conferences and is the author of numerous research papers. In the Marketing department, he has supervised over 25 Post-Graduate dissertations. His area of study and interest is digital marketing.

Prem Bahadur Budhathoki is a senior faculty in the Finance Department at Tribhuvan University. He graduated from Tribhuvan University with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Mr. Budhathoki has authored numerous research articles and given presentations at national and international conferences. In the Finance department, he has supervised over 50 Post-Graduate dissertations.