What matters for international consumers' choice preferences for smartphones: Evidence from a cross-border ecommerce platform

PLoS One. 2023 May 11;18(5):e0285551. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0285551. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Despite the growing impact of smartphone use on countries' economies, the literature has rarely investigated the link between economic context and smartphone purchase trends. Based on 20,556 smartphones sold from a Cross-Border E-Commerce (CBEC) platform, the study reveals that relationships between GDP per capita and Smartphone Choice Preferences (SCP) as well as Purchase Quantities (PUR) are direct and partially mediated by Price (PRI), Read-Only Memory (ROM), and Random-Access Memory (RAM). That means that the economic context highlighted by the GDP plays a substantial role in smartphone choices and purchases. The study suggests that e-sellers and smartphone brands should adapt their marketing and manufacturing strategies to the countries' economic contexts to leverage the fearless competition in the smartphone industry.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Commerce
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Marketing*
  • Smartphone*

Grants and funding

This study, is financially sustained by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project No. 71402039 and Project No. 71831005), Shenzhen Peacock Program (Project No. KOCX2015032715503970). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.