Research Article Open Access

FUZZY SIMPLE ADDITIVE WEIGHTING BASED, DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM APPLICATION FOR ALTERNATIVE CONFUSION REDUCTION STRATEGY IN SMARTPHONE PURCHASES

Robertus Nugroho Perwiro Atmojo1, Anindito1, Bens Pardamean2, Bahtiar Saleh Abbas2, Anggita Dian Cahyani3 and Imanuel Didimus Manulang4
  • 1 School of Information Systems, Bina Nusantara University, West Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 2 Graduate School of Information Systems, Bina Nusantara University, West Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 3 Department of Psychology, Bina Nusantara University, West Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 4 Research and Technology Transfer Office, Bina Nusantara University, West Jakarta, Indonesia

Abstract

Consumer confusion is a phenomena when the consumer experiencing several confusion problems when she/he should to purchase products/services. Usually, consumer will do a strategy to coping the confusion, that strategy is known as Confusion Reduction Strategy. The conventional ways usually taken by the consumer to reduce the confusion are, such as: Asking for product recommendation to close relatives, seeking for an additional product information on the internet and so on. However, suggestions and recommendations from conventional sources obtained by the consumer, sometimes are not always accurate (not objective) and time consuming (inefficient). Therefore, this research proposes a Decision Support System (DSS) application to cope with the confusion. In this study, the comparison results between conventional methods (such as: Asking advice to close relatives or seeking for an additional information on the internet) with the proposed method (the DSS) were presented. In addition, another implication of this study is to get the factors that causing consumer confusion in case of smartphone purchases. This research used mixed-method approach, implemented through interview and survey. Research samples were 136 potential smartphone buyers which are converted to 27 smartphone buyers; brand image is the main source of consumer confusion (mean 3.98, std. dev 0.86), followed by proliferation of brands, services and models of smartphone products (mean 3.89, std. dev 0.82). Respondents often use Word of Mouth (WoM) communication as main source of information to reduce the confusion, results of 16 from 27 transactions were contributed from WoM. DSS application contributed only 2 of 27 smartphone transactions. Further research for the development of mobile based DSS application as an alternative conventional CRS needs to be conducted, because of the potential success of static desktop based DSS application in reducing potential consumer confusion especially for value oriented buyers.

American Journal of Applied Sciences
Volume 11 No. 4, 2014, 666-680

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2014.666.680

Submitted On: 2 January 2014 Published On: 8 February 2014

How to Cite: Atmojo, R. N. P., Anindito, Pardamean, B., Abbas, B. S., Cahyani, A. D. & Manulang, I. D. (2014). FUZZY SIMPLE ADDITIVE WEIGHTING BASED, DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM APPLICATION FOR ALTERNATIVE CONFUSION REDUCTION STRATEGY IN SMARTPHONE PURCHASES. American Journal of Applied Sciences, 11(4), 666-680. https://doi.org/10.3844/ajassp.2014.666.680

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Keywords

  • Consumer Confusion
  • Decision Support System
  • Simple Additive Weighting
  • Fuzzy Logic
  • Confusion Reduction Strategy