Descriptive Analysis

The surveying process was conducted within 39 days from 1^st June to 13^th July 2015. In total, 157 respondents in both genders, with different ages, marital and social status answered the questionnaire (Appendix A). Specifically, the usable questionnaires were evenly distributed in both genders, showing the figures of 52.2% male and 47.8% female. Further, most respondents are from 20 to 40 years old, which comprise of 70.1% of the total number. Most of them are married, representing the dramatic figure of 68.2%, while the significant amount of 60.5%

belongs to college/university graduates. The majority of respondents is from Cau Giay Dist., Ba Dinh Dist., Dong Da Dist., Thanh Xuan Dist., and Hoang Mai Dist. (83.5%), while the minority is from Hai Ba Trung Dist., Hoan Kiem Dist., Tay Ho Dist., and others (only around 16.6%).

Regarding Working sector, most of respondents work for private companies in service sector or working as civil servants or working for state companies (83.5%), while only about 16.6% are students or work for private companies in manufacturing sector. As a result, respondents mostly are employees or managers/supervisors (84.7%). In addition, most families of respondents have the total income per month over 6,000,000 VND (90.4%), indicating that most Apple users have relatively high incomes, while only 9.6% have incomes below 6,000,000 VND.

However, one point should be said about Vietnamese respondents is that it is quite difficult to convince them to answer the questionnaires. Most respondents will ignore if you try to ask them to fill the forms. Within one day, the researcher was able to persuade only 7 respondents to complete the face-to-face questionnaires, with the response rate of around 10% (or even lower!).

Future studies should take this factor into consideration while conducting a research in Vietnam.

Table 10. Respondent profile

The survey also revealed that most respondents have been using Apple products more than 1

Monthly salary of the whole family (VND) Below 6,000,000 VND

Already used these Apple products (multiple choice) iPod

iPhone iPad

iMac/Macbook iWatch

Apple servies (iTunes, App Store, iCloud, etc) Other

and iPad and Apple services, while only 9.1%, 4.5% and 0.9% answered that they had been using iPod, iMac/Macbook and iWatch, respectively (Table 10).

Table 11. Q46 Frequencies

Responses

N Percent

UsedAppleproducts^a iPod 32 9.1%

iPhone 141 40.1%

As we can see on the table above, most respondents (85.6%) chose to use iPhone, iPad and Apple services, while only around 14.5% chose to use other Apple products, indicating that iPhone, iPad and Apple services also are undeniably popular among Vietnamese customers in Hanoi, while Apple needs to have more effective strategies to attract customers to their other products (iPod, iMac/Macbook and iWatch) (Table 11).

Table 12. Respondents‘ views on marketing mix strategies of Apple

Statement Mean

Product

I enjoy using innovative products of Apple.

I chose Apple because of its polished and stylish packaging.

I like the diversity in products and services of Apple.

I chose Apple because of its branding strategy

I chose Apple because of the comparability between services and products.

I enjoy using trial products of Apple.

I like the professional support at Genius Bar in retail stores and the Consultants Network of Apple.

Price

The way Apple deducts prices over time (ie $200 deduction for iPhone in 2007) is suitable.

I like the way Apple set prices according to my paying ability.

I prefer using Apple products having life cycles changing according to demand (ie iPhone).

I like the way Apple sets prices according to market demand.

I chose Apple because of the pricing strategy that brings benefits to both customers and employees.

I fond of purchasing products of Apple in bulk with deducted prices.

The price skimming strategy of Apple is reasonable.

Song prices on iTunes (69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29) are acceptable.

Place

I chose Apple because it is a global company.

I like when staff in Apple retail stores are enthusiastic, supportive and informative.

I chose Apple because of its major distribution strategy is selective distribution.

4.0573

I like the direct, interesting environment inside retail stores of Apple. 3.7707 I like Apple because of retail stores are organized into departments and according to sales. 3.7261 I think the positions of retail stores at central business districts aiming to high income people

are appropriate.

I like the strategy of forming strategic alliances with other companies of Apple (with HP is an

3.6624 3.6497 example).

I like the positions of Apple‘s retail stores are near other electronic stores. 3.4968 Despite of purchasing at retail stores, I usually purchase Apple products online. 3.2357 Promotion

I like when Apple because it is is a hip band. 4.1911

I like the way Apple understands and meets my needs. 3.9682

I always know about what I get when purchasing products of Apple. 3.9108 I chose Apple because of its effectiveness in personal selling. 3.7962 I think the search tool within the Consultants Network website of Apple is useful. 3.7771

I think online ads of Apple are optimal. 3.7325

I chose Apple because of three major promotional strategies of Apple (television advertisements, online ads, and billboards).

I think offers and special discounts of Apple are suitable.

3.5796 3.5414

I chose Apple because of its fun ads. 3.5287

I think the cross-promotion strategy of Apple with other products is judicious.

N = 157

3.5032 As shown on Table 12, all 157 Vietnamese respondents answered questions regarding marketing mix strategies of Apple positively, with all means over 3.0. Several means are even higher than 4.0, specifically ―I enjoy using innovative products of Apple.‖, ―I chose Apple because of its polished and stylish packaging.‖, ―I chose Apple because it is a global company.‖, and ―I like when Apple because it is is a hip band..‖, meaning that factors namely ―innovative products‖,

―polished and stylish packaging‖, ―global company‖ and ―hip brand‖ significantly impact their brand choices.

Table 13. Respondents‘ views on factors affecting their purchase decisions

Statement Mean

Predecision stage:

As I was deciding to purchase the product,

I was influenced by characteristics of the product, which leads to the desire to purchase.

I think I bought it because of its characteristics.

I was influenced by the price of the product, which makes me want to purchase it.

I think I bought it because of its price.

Post-Purchase stage:

Now that I have purchased the product,

I was affected by the advertisements and promotions of the product, leading to the purchase.

I think I bought it because of its advertising and promotional strategies.

The convenience of the retail outlet/online website made me want to purchase it.

I think I bought it because of the convenience of the retail outlet/online website.

N = 157

than 4.0, specifically ―I was influenced by characteristics of the product, which leads to the desire to purchase.‖, meaning that ―characteristics of products‖ significantly influence the predecision stage of their purchase decisions.