Investigating the Factors Affecting Students’ Smartphone Purchasing Behaviors in the Context of Mobile Learning

Abstract

Since we are living in the information era, it is highly important that people can reach the desired knowledge whenever required. Mobile devices have become in-dispensable in the everyday lives of humans. The recent developments in the field of technology have affected all sectors as well as the education sector, and have thus increased the importance of mobile learning. However, in order to gain the maximum benefit from mobile learning, it is important to know the specifications of the mobile devices used by the students so that the teaching materials can be prepared accordingly. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the factors that affect students’ choices when they are making the decision to purchase a mobile phone. Differences are observed between countries, as there are differences be-tween students. In this context, when the literature is studied, it is seen that insufficient research has been conducted in many countries, particularly in Northern Cyprus. This study focuses on investigating the factors affecting university students’ mobile phone purchasing behaviors in North Cyprus. Data was collected from 472 voluntary students by using a survey research model. The factors affecting students’ mobile phone purchasing behaviors, such as brand image, price, product/application features, and peer group influence were considered in this study. Consequently, four hypotheses were proposed and only one of these hypotheses was not supported. In other words, brand image, product/application features, and peer group influence were found to be effective factors in students’ choice, while the price seemed not to be an important factor. The most important result of the study was that the smartphones occupy a very important place in students’ everyday lives and they were not affected by price considerations. Therefore, it is thought that these high demands of students for smartphones will be very advantageous in the transition of educational institutions to mobile learning, particularly from the perspective of teachers. It can be said that students’ familiarity with using mobile technologies will affect their motivation positively and this may also positively affect their academic success rates in mobile learning. Therefore, it is hoped that the results obtained in this study will guide teachers in developing countries to prepare their course materials and consequently revise their curriculum in the context of mobile learning.