Consumer attitude and purchase decision towards household computers (with reference to vellore district of Tamilnadu)

Today owning computer at home has become a status symbol, must-own-situation or a tool to learn. This research work focuses on the factors influencing the households to own a computer at home and assess the perceptions’ towards owning the computers based on the societal implications with respect to owning computer at home. To acquire and posses home computers the consumer faces problems relating to acquiring authentic information about computers, regarding sources of information, genuineness of computers, the economic price to be paid etc. After acquiring one, the consumer faces the problem of adopting it at the household and its social implication on the household. Through this research some of the issues are addressed. The income level of the respondent and the brand of the computer which they own are treated as the dependent variables and perceptions, attitude and the satisfaction level was treated as the independent variables. A structured questionnaire was prepared after a pilot study and with focus group discussion points. The questionnaire was used for the interview to collect data from 518 samples who own computers in Vellore district by using convenient sampling method. The analysis of data using various techniques revealed that the social change in the household is taking place which may lead to one computer for each individual or one lap top for each individual. The consumer behaviour was applied with the background of Theory of Planned Behaviour which was further decomposed with the new application model.