A Study of Culture Impacts on Mobile Phone Purchasing: A Comparison Between Arab and Non-Arab Postgraduate Students of Universiti Utara Malaysia

The aim of this research is to determine and evaluate whether difference in national culture impact on the buyer behavior of Arabian and non Arabian students at UUM
University as consumers when purchasing a mobile phone. The research was conducted in order to identify and compare key cultural attributes that influence mobile phone purchasing between Arabian and non Arabian student consumers. An
empirical study was based on the concept of Hofstede's dimension of individualism, collectivism and power distance as well as looking at Schwartz's values dimension of power, achievement, hedonism, and self direction. The data was collected from 140 questionnaires using students at University Utara Malaysia. The findings indicated that there is a significant difference between Arabian and non Arabian student consumers in terms of mobile phone purchasing behavior as far as looking into Hofstede's cultural dimensions and Schwartz's cultural values are concerned. The findings also recommend that managers in mobile phone organizations should be concerned with the cultural dynamics of consumers as part of their going re-segmentation, communication, and promotion strategies within their overall marketing strategies. The cultural factors will assist mangers to guide the specifications required for the development of online customer decision support systems.