Purpose A method is proposed for handling multi-attribute judgment problems with a large number of attributes such as mobile phone features. To minimize the complication of multi-attributes and reduce the consumers’ choice task burden, this paper aims to suggest an integrated hierarchical survey design (IHSD) with the Kano model. The author compared the utility of mobile phone’s attributes for each market and for customer segment by analyzing empirical data on wear obtained from six Middle East and African countries, five Asia-Pacific countries and three European countries. Based on an IHSD of 10,200 respondents, brand, camera, memory and LTE (4G) play vital roles in all regions. In contrast, Wi-Fi, file-editor, MMS, LCD size and phone type are displayed as the least important attributes. The results of this study were successfully implemented for product planning, product development and marketing strategy in terms of price setting, features prioritizing and optimal designing for new products in the mobile phone company. Design/methodology/approach The first step was to list all possible features with the product planning team, product development team and market research specialists. The second step divided the selected features for designing a mobile phone into subgroups based on their functional characteristics by using the Kano model. The method for classifying features was determined using Kano questionnaire. The third step incorporated a fractional factorial design for the “must-be” choice-based conjoint (CBC) (Oppewal et al., 1994) which includes two factors: whether customers required the “one-dimensional” feature or the “attractive” feature, along with the “must-be” attributes. The consumers who selected the “must-be” features could choose both the “one-dimensional” feature and the “attractive” feature groups or one of the two feature groups in no particular order. Fractional factorial design was applied to both the “one-dimensional” features and the “attractive” features for individual CBCs. Random sequences of the combinations of attribute levels were generated for each of the three types of CBC analyses (“must-be”, “one-dimensional” and “attractive”). At the same time, the fourth step conducted a survey of the individual groups for the conjoint analysis on the functional characteristics of a mobile phone. The analysis of the accumulated data obtained from all the feature groups was completed using conditional logit models as part of the fifth step. In addition, the “must-be” CBC design was linked with the “one-dimensional” and “attractive” CBC designs. The sixth step was to analyze the accumulated results obtained from all the feature groups and estimate the usefulness of each feature’s level in the context of the CBC. Based on the results of the sixth step, the importance and willingness-to-pay of each attribute were estimated in the seventh step. Findings Use of the conjoint important score is aimed to expand the market by finding the different consumers’ needs across the regions. In detail, attributes such as “FM Transmitter”, “Touch screen” and “Health (heart rate)” are considered consumers’ new crucial needs in Europe, which would enable the product to superiorly differentiate itself from others to dominate the current market. On the other hand, it is shown that attributes such as “brand”, “mobile TV”, “external memory”, “mobile tracker” and “4G” are more important in Asia-Pacific. Therefore, if mobile manufacturers develop this sector more, it will grant mobile manufacturers the opportunity to lead the market. The only difference of the Middle East and African consumers is that “NFC” has a higher importance while the rest of the needs are very similar to those of Asia-Pacific. Regarding willingness-to-pay (WTP) among countries, the highest scoring utility, besides brand, appeared to be associated with the camera function in all countries. Especially, relatively low utility value was given in Wi-Fi and File-editer, MMS, LCD size and Phone type. In a value-based approach, the price of a product is based on the perceived valuation by the target customers. The research in the field of pricing is of ample importance. This is because price is the only element of the marketing mix that generates income. All other elements, such as advertising and promotion, product development, selling effort, distribution and packaging, involve expenditures (Monroe, 2003). Regarding among regions, the needs for 3G and the internet-related feature (WAP, Wi-Fi, etc.) in the emerging market are low compared to those for 4G and internet-related feature in the mature market. Also, the needs for productivity and advanced features, such as camera and e-mail, are lower in Asia-Pacific than in Europe. It is therefore recommended that manufactures and marketers of mobile phones should consider producing and selling phones with modern technology features that are more durable and of highly quality. Research limitations/implications The integrated hierarchical survey by function with the Kano model proves to be a highly useful, efficient and accurate methodology for understanding a consumer mobile phone behavior. Although the proposed method was applied to designs of mobile phones in the emerging and mature markets, its accuracy was not compared with the traditionally used methods such as CBC, adaptive conjoint analysis and hybrid method. This is left for further areas of research. Practical implications The results of this research study correspond with previous studies conducted (Pakola et al., 2010; Das, 2012; Malaasi, 2012, 2008; Dziwornu, 2013), which consider the features of mobile phone as a crucial factor in consumer buying decision in all countries. It is significant that this study made huge impact on mobile phone manufacturers in several ways. It has been converted into product development with consumer-oriented approach. The pricing policy has been changed from cost-based pricing into value-based pricing; and marketing strategy has been changed from an unsystematic function into a systematic and consistent one. Originality/value The proposed method with the Kano model proved to be a practical and efficient tool for decision-making, as it helped mobile manufacturers to better understand how customers evaluate and perceive quality attributes. The Kano model was used to explain how the quality attributes can be classified into mainly three categories of perceived quality: “must-be”, “one-dimensional” and “attractive”. It has lots of benefits in terms of cost and time reduction and is expected to bring a great effect into the industrial field.

中文翻译：

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衡量手机功能的支付意愿：一项多区域研究

目的提出一种处理手机属性等多个属性的多属性判断问题的方法。为了最大程度地减少多属性的复杂性并减轻消费者的选择任务负担，本文旨在提出一种与Kano模型集成的分层调查设计（IHSD）。作者通过分析从六个中东和非洲国家，五个亚太国家和三个欧洲国家获得的磨损经验数据，比较了手机属性在每个市场和客户群中的效用。根据IHSD的10,200名受访者，品牌，相机，内存和LTE（4G）在所有地区都发挥着至关重要的作用。相反，Wi-Fi，文件编辑器，MMS，LCD尺寸和电话类型显示为最不重要的属性。这项研究的结果已成功应用于价格规划，产品开发的优先级和最佳设计方面的产品计划，产品开发和营销策略。设计/方法/方法第一步是与产品计划团队，产品开发团队和市场研究专家一起列出所有可能的功能。第二步，通过使用Kano模型，根据手机的功能特性将用于设计手机的所选功能划分为子组。使用Kano问卷确定特征分类的方法。第三步为“必须”基于选择的联合（CBC）进行了分数阶乘设计（Oppewal等，1994），其中包括两个因素：客户是否需要“一维”功能或“有吸引力”功能以及“必须”属性。选择“必须”功能的消费者可以不按特定顺序选择“一维”功能和“有吸引力”功能组，或者两个功能组之一。分数阶乘设计应用于单个CBC的“一维”特征和“有吸引力”特征。为三种类型的CBC分析（“必须”，“一维”和“有吸引力”）中的每一种生成了属性级别组合的随机序列。同时，第四步对各个组进行了调查，以对手机的功能特性进行联合分析。作为第五步的一部分，使用条件对数模型完成了从所有要素组获得的累积数据的分析。此外，“必须” CBC设计与“一维”和“有吸引力” CBC设计相关。第六步是分析从所有要素组获得的累积结果，并在CBC的背景下估算每个要素层次的有用性。根据第六步的结果，在第七步中估算了每种属性的重要性和支付意愿。结果使用联合重要评分旨在通过发现整个地区不同的消费者需求来扩大市场。详细而言，“ FM发射器”，“触摸屏”和“健康（心率）”等属性被认为是欧洲消费者对新的重要需求，这将使该产品能够与众不同，从而在当前市场上独领风骚。另一方面，表明“品牌”，“移动电视”，“外部存储器”，“移动追踪器”和“ 4G”等属性在亚太地区更为重要。因此，如果移动制造商更多地发展该领域，它将为移动制造商提供领导市场的机会。中东和非洲消费者的唯一区别在于，“ NFC”的重要性更高，而其余需求与亚太地区的需求非常相似。关于国家间的付费意愿（WTP），除品牌外，评分最高的效用似乎与所有国家/地区的相机功能有关。特别是，在Wi-Fi和文件编辑器，MMS，LCD尺寸和电话类型中，使用价值相对较低。在基于价值的方法中，产品的价格基于目标客户的感知估值。定价领域的研究非常重要。这是因为价格是产生收入的营销组合的唯一要素。所有其他要素，例如广告和促销，产品开发，销售力度，分销和包装，均涉及支出（Monroe，2003年）。在区域之间，与成熟市场中的4G和互联网相关功能相比，新兴市场对3G和互联网相关功能（WAP，Wi-Fi等）的需求较低。此外，亚太地区对生产力和高级功能（如相机和电子邮件）的需求也比欧洲低。因此，建议移动电话的制造商和销售商应考虑生产和销售具有更耐用和更高质量的现代技术功能的电话。研究局限性/涵义结合Kano模型按功能进行的综合分层调查被证明是了解消费者移动电话行为的一种非常有用，高效和准确的方法。尽管该方法被应用于新兴市场和成熟市场的手机设计中，但其准确性并未与传统方法如CBC，自适应联合分析和混合方法相提并论。这留待进一步研究。实际意义本研究的结果与之前的研究相吻合（Pakola等，2010； Das，2012； Malaasi，2012，2008； Dziwornu，（2013年），其中将手机的功能视为所有国家/地区消费者购买决策的关键因素。有意义的是，这项研究以多种方式对手机制造商产生了巨大影响。它已以面向消费者的方式转换为产品开发。定价政策已从基于成本的定价更改为基于价值的定价；营销策略已从非系统性功能变为系统性且一致的功能。独创性/价值提议的带有Kano模型的方法被证明是一种实用且有效的决策工具，因为它可以帮助移动制造商更好地了解客户如何评估和感知质量属性。使用Kano模型来解释如何将质量属性主要分为三类感知质量：“必须”，“一维”和“有吸引力”。就成本和减少时间而言，它具有许多好处，并有望在工业领域产生巨大的影响。