Application of Conjoint Analysis and Diffusion Theory on Measuring Brand Equity-taking smart phone as an example

Due to the rapid development in the technology industry, the smart phone sector has become fairly matured, and because of that, the products within the sector have much shortened product life cycles, which attract fierce competitions among the technology industry. In order for companies to survive such competition, it has become increasing crucial to develop optimal pricing strategies for technology products. Although many research papers use conjoin analysis to measure the brand equity including variables like purchase motivation and attribute importance, the variable related to the timing of purchase was rare. Besides, most of the articles associated with diffusion theory put emphasis on the influence of observation and compatibility on consumer’s attitude, but these articles could not provide optimal product attribute mix and consumer preference for new product development for the future. Therefore, this paper aims to segment consumer by innovation degree of diffusion theory, and measure brand equity and preference structure for every cluster using the conjoint analysis. The result of this paper will provide guidance to the smart phone manufacturers to develop appropriate pricing strategies through understanding the consumer portfolio of each brand and customer’s preferences of different product attributes when making purchasing decision.