WHY PEOPLE SWICH TO THEIR MOBILE PHONE SERVICES,Pakistan Mobile Phone User behaviour, Attitude of people when they are purchasing mobile services.
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WHY
PEOPLE SWICH TO THEIR MOBILE PHONE SERVICES
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Method
in Business Research
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SUBJECT:
MBR
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INTRODUCTION:
All
organizations have their hidden motive to increase the profitability.
Successful organizations
are
attracting customers by raising their expectations and are delivering
performances over and above the customer expectation levels.
Successful organizations are investing heavily on promotion to
increase the customer expectations and are devising their strategies
to delight the customer. In customer satisfaction process, if the
performance falls short of expectations, the customer is
dissatisfied. If the performance matches the expectations, the
customer is satisfied. If the performance exceeds expectations, the
customer is highly satisfied or delighted. Long-run satisfaction
leads to customer retention / loyalty. Customer attraction,
satisfaction and retention have become a hard task in today’s
competitive environment. Mobile phone market in Pakistan is highly
competitive. Market comprises Mobilnk, Ufone , Telenor, Warid and
Zong. Previously Mobilink being the pioneer was the market leader,
now the scenario has changed. There is a fierce competition in the
segment. Companies are investing heavily to raise customers’
expectations and to tangibalize their services quality. Teledensity
in Pakistan has reached to 59.80% (PTA-May 2010). Total number of
mobile phone users is 98million. All mobile phone operators have
shown customer wise growth trend, while only Ufone has registered a
profit of Rs. 1.70billion for the year ending June 2009. This
non-profitable trend is due to decrease in average revenue per user
(ARPU). In 2003 ARPU was US$9 per month, which has now decreased to
US$2.48 in 2009. Out of 98 million users, 98% of the teledensity is
enjoying the pre-paid connections and majority of the pre-paid
connections are used by low income group. Keeping in view the current
situation of the market it is inevitable that mobile phone service
providers should evolve their marketing strategies to attract maximum
number of the customers, by using effective CRM strategies for
customer satisfaction and retention.
This
paper focuses on customer satisfaction parameters by analyzing the
relationship the claims made by mobile service providers’ and
customers’ perception / trust after use. This paper focuses on the
following
dimensions
of customer satisfaction and trust.
- Average mobile expenditure of the customer’s on mobile phone usage per month.
- Duration for the current usage of particular brand.
- Level of customer’s satisfaction on their mobile phone service providers
- Future intentions of the customer’s regarding switching or retaining their brand etc.
carried
out in Section 2. Methodological framework is explained in Section 3.
The estimation and interpretation of results is mentioned in Section
4. Section 5 concludes the paper.
LITRATURE REVIEW:
In
(2003) have concluded that customers’ satisfaction, trust and
switching barriers play a major role in customers’ retention. They
adopted a holistic approach that examines the combined effects of
satisfaction, trust and switching barriers on customer retention in a
continuous purchasing setting. Islam (2008) has highlighted several
factors for building the customers’ satisfaction and customer
loyalty. Trust is the major determinant for this. In addition to
trust, switching cost & corporate image are responsible for
customer loyalty and satisfaction in mobile phone operator industry
in Bangladesh. Oyeniyi and Abiodun (2009) argues that customer
satisfaction positively affects customer retention and that switching
cost affects significantly the level of customer retention. Bhatty et
al (2001) has argued in the same context, and
added some other factors like staff attitude and availability,
delivery on promises, accurate product information, ability to handle
problems, consistency and meeting expectations are the major drivers
for building a long term relationship with the customers. Customer
satisfaction depends on how customers perceive service quality.
Researchers studying customer satisfaction related to retention
behavior in wireless service markets identified three pertinent
factors—call quality, price, and customer support. In a telephone
survey of wireless service customers in Germany, Gerpott et
al. (2001) found that network quality and
price were significant in affecting customer satisfaction, but not
customer support, while Kim et al. (2004)
in a survey of South Korean customers found that call quality,
value-added services and customer support were significant, but not
price, handset, and convenience in procedures. Berry (1995) has
mentioned that quality of services, increased recognition of the
potential benefits for the firm and also for the customers, along
with technological advances are the main contributors of trust in
Services Marketing.
Trust
is considered as the most important factor for building long-term
relationships, for enhancing customer loyalty. Bolton et al (2000)
has questionably highlighted that loyalty reward programs have
positive impact on customers’ evaluation and behavior. These
loyalty programs help in increasing the duration and usage levels.
Customer satisfaction is the key to customer retention. Dissatisfied
customers will switch-over to other services. Seo et
al (2008) has mentioned that switching cost
plays a significant role in customer retention.
Switching
costs include all costs incurred by the customer when a customer
switches between different brands of products or services. Switching
costs consist of loss and gain costs. Loss costs occur when customers
leave their service provider, while gain costs occur when the
customer starts to subscribe to a new service or gains a new product.
Organizations can increase loss costs to retain customers and
manipulate gain costs to attract new customers. According to Becker
et al (2009), CRM
activities have got positive impact on the customer and company’s
relationship. Eshghi et al (2007)
continued with the same argument and suggested that providing better
service can lead to increased customer satisfaction and ultimately
will reduce the need to look out for the new customers. Liang and
Wang (2008) give this aspect of the CRM a new dimension by arguing
that suppliers’ efforts can lead to trust building. Suppliers /
services providers have to sacrifice for the customer satisfaction.
Jan and Wajidi (2007) have highlighted offering of various packages
as a major tool to survive the competition and to increase the market
share. Besides this instant connectivity and low call rates are also
important to attract and retain maximum number of customers.
It
is also emphasized that the mobile phone service providers should
understand customers’ behavior and preferences.
Some
cellular mobile phone service providers have wide area network
coverage in Pakistan. There are some areas in which the only one
network service is in operation and many people and their relatives
subscribe for the same cellular network connection. It is because;
call from a network to the same network is low in price. Making call
from network ‘A’ to network ‘A’, is relatively low in price
than makings call from network ‘A’ to network ‘B’.
Currently,
six cellular mobile phone companies are operating in Quetta, namely,
InstaPhone, Paktel, Mobilink, Ufone,
Al-Warid and Telenor. All the cellular mobile phone service providers
work under the executive control of Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority (PTA) through its Mobile Policy. It initiates new access
code for each cellular service provider if it reaches the limit of 5
million subscribers. PTA keeps a visionary watch on the services of
the cellular mobile phone service providers to ensure quality
services and prevent those providing bad services to the subscribers.
If any service provider is not up to the mark in terms of
connectivity, voice quality etc…, it is charged for by heavy fine
according to the rules and regulations. A brief description of each
of these cellular mobile service providers is given below.
InstaPhone
InstaPhone
is the first cellular service provider company which started its
operations in Pakistan. 4It was established in 1990 and started its
operations on September 1990 from Islamabad and Karachi, with its
head office in Islamabad, and gradually extended its operations in
different cities of Pakistan. Currently, InstaPhone is providing its
services in 185 cities of Pakistan. It aims to further extend its
network coverage in other cities of Pakistan with CDMA Technology.
From the inception, InstaPhone network had been using Analog Mobile
Phone System (AMPS) Technology but, with the advancement in
technology it converted its networks to D-MPS Technology which is
also referred to as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) Technology.
InstaPhone
started its operations in Quetta on October 1991. According to
InstaPhone local management in Quetta district, its overall
subscribers in all over Pakistan are almost 470,000 by September
2006, and in Quetta its number of users is approximately 20,0005.
InstaPhone
is providing its customers with high quality services including voice
quality, SMS, MMS, and other value added services like call waiting,
call forwarding etc and introduced other attractive packages to
attract new customers and to sustain existing subscribers. InstaPhone
is also facilitating its customers with roaming services at national
and international level. Despite these, it has been noted that, with
the arrival of other networks, many InstaPhone subscribers have
switched to other networks for better services.
Paktel
Paktel
is the second cellular service provider company in Pakistan. It was
established in 1992 and started its operations in the end 1992, with
its head office in Islamabad, and gradually extended its operations
in different cities of Pakistan. It was set up by cable &
wireless and carried out AMPS services until 2004. Later on the
company launched GSM services as well. Currently Paktel is providing
its services in almost 320 cities and towns of Pakistan with both
Analog Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and Global System for Mobile
Communication (GSM) based technologies6. Paktel is not the giant in
the cellular industry of Pakistan. It captures a very small portion
of user base capacity of only 2 million subscribers in Pakistan7.
According to its local management in Quetta city, its subscribers in
Quetta were approximately 2300.
Paktel
is providing its customers with value added services like
International SMS, voice mail, CLI, call waiting, call forwarding and
conference calling. But many subscribers of Paktel are looking to
other networks for better services because sometimes Paktel
subscribers face problems in receiving calls and SMS. It has no GPRS
and MMS services8. In January 2007, Millicom sold Paktel for 284
million US Dollar to China Mobile. On 4th May, 2007, Paktel was
renamed to CM Pak. China Mobile Pakistan (CM Pak) is now a 100%
subsidiary of China Mobile. It came through acquisition of a license
from Millicom to operate a GSM network in Pakistan. The service is
now provided by the name of Zong.
Mobilink
Mobilink
is the third cellular service provider in Pakistan. It is the
subsidiary of ORASCOM telecom. It was established in 1994 and started
its operation in early 1994 from Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore, with
its head office in Islamabad9. It gradually extended its operations
in different cities of Pakistan. Currently Mobilink is providing its
services in almost 5000 cities, towns and villages of Pakistan. It
aims to extend its network coverage in other cities, towns, highways
and villages of Pakistan as well.
Mobilink
is the first GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) cellular
based network of Pakistan. Prior to this, other companies namely
InstaPhone and Paktel were using AMPS technology for mobile
communication. GSM technology provides higher capacity for data
transfer than AMPS technology, and is based on SIM technology.
Mobilink, came into the market and became very popular among the
users because it was the first SIM based GSM network providing the
customers with best quality services. Mobilink kept on introducing
several attractive schemes for its subscribers with affordable prices
and has become the market leader in Pakistan and hence Mobilink is
the largest company in Pakistan.
Mobilink
started its operations in Quetta in September 2001. According to the
Mobilink local management of Quetta district, its overall subscribers
in Pakistan have exceeded 17 million. In Quetta, its number of users
is approximately 455,00010. Mobilink has become the largest cellular
service provider in Pakistan.
Mobilink
is providing its customers with high quality services including voice
quality, SMS, MMS, and value added services including calls divert,
call waiting etc, and attractive packages with affordable rates.
Mobilink network also supports WAP and internet services in few
citifies of Pakistan. Mobilink aims to gradually increase WAP and
internet services to other cities of Pakistan as well. Mobilink is
providing roaming services at national and international level but
receiving no roaming charges at national level. Mobilink is facing
tough competition from its counterparts these days. Keeping in view
the market competition, Mobilink has always tried to set up
unbeatable rates with quality services for its customers under
different packages.
Ufone-PTML
Ufone-PTML
(Pakistan Telecom Mobile Limited) is the fourth cellular service
provider in Pakistan. After the privatization of PTCL, Ufone
is
now renamed as Etisalat Telecom Company. Ufone
network
was established in January 2001 and started its operations on January
29 from Islamabad11. Its head office is also in Islamabad. It
gradually extended its operations in different cities, villages and
highways of Pakistan. Currently Ufone
is
providing its services in almost 428 cities, highways and villages of
Pakistan and is gradually extending its network coverage in other
cities of Pakistan.
Ufone
network
also uses state of the art SIM based GSM technology. Ufone
introduced
its quality services along with different packages. With the arrival
in the market, Ufone
cellular
service provider rapidly increased its network for comprehensive
coverage. Its coverage is not only confined to big cities of Pakistan
but also covers super highways and Motorways for instant
connectivity. All these caused the rapid growth of Ufone
in
telecommunication market. Another reason for rapid growth in the
market is its introduction of GPRS (General Packet Radio Service),
internet connectivity, faster data transfer and download, visual
communication etc, and it is providing these facilities in all big
cities of Pakistan. Ufone
also
facilitates for SMS and MMS, international calling, voice mail, call
waiting and call forwarding. subscribers throughout Pakistan have
exceeded more than 13 million and in Quetta, its number of users is
approximately 275,00012.
It
has been the strategy of Ufone-PTML
to introduce its rates in a very simple package which has caused a
rapid grapping of telecommunication market. Ufone
has
set up a strategy of pricing little number of packages.
Al-Warid
Warid
Telecom (Warid Telecommunication) is the fifth cellular service
provider in Pakistan. Warid Telecom is Abu Dhabi based mobile
telecommunication company. Warid telecom network was established in
2005 and started its operations on May 23, 200513. Warid is the only
telecommunication company that initiated its services in 28 cities of
Pakistan simultaneously including Quetta, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore,
and Peshawar etc. Its head office is in Lahore. It is gradually
extending its operations in different cities and villages of
Pakistan. Currently Warid telecom is providing its services in almost
114 cities and villages of Pakistan.
Al-Warid
network uses state of the art SIM based GSM technology. The
subscribers of Warid telecom have increased more rapidly than any
other cellular network in Pakistan. By May 2006, Al-Warid had almost
one million users14. Warid telecom aims to extend its cellular
network throughout Pakistan, but with super and high quality services
such as voice quality, instant connectivity, and accessibility.
Warid
telecom is providing services like GPRS for internet access, SMS,
MMS, and International roaming with very competitive prices to its
customers. Besides these, it is also providing free roaming
throughout Pakistan, free SMS via internet and the newly introduced
30 second billing system for the first time in Pakistan. These
services have not only attracted new customer but also helped to
sustain the existing subscribers of the company. The striking feature
of Warid telecom is that it informs its customers about each call
cost soon after the call ends. Warid telecom does not deduct sales
tax directly from the customer’s account which is an additional
attribute of this company.
Warid
telecom started its operations in Quetta in May 23, 2005. According
to Al-Warid local management of Quetta district, its subscribers in
Pakistan have exceeded 6 millions, and in Quetta, its number of users
is almost 6,00015.
Telenor
Telenor
is the sixth cellular service provider in Pakistan. It was
established in 1992 and started its operations in the end of 199216.
Its head office is in Islamabad. Telenor is increasing its network
coverage rapidly to extend its operations in different cities of
Pakistan. Currently, Telenor is providing its services in more than
1200 locations, including cities, towns, highways and villages in
Pakistan with GSM based technology. Telenor’s subscribers in
Pakistan in third quarter of 2007 reached to 12.58 million.
The
companies’ market share in terms of their number of subscribers is
changing. The recent statistics of May, 2008, for the
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number
of subscribers of each cellular network in Pakistan is given
bellow in a descending order18. Name
of company
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Number
of subscribers
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Mobilink
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31,958,595
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Telenor
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17,841, 074
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Ufone
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17,800,424
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Warid
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15,114,678
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Zong
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3,662,099
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InstaPhone
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321,204
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Total
No. of subscribers in Pakistan
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86,698,075
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Number
1: 150 Cellular
Mobile Phone Service & Users’
Name
of cellular network.
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No. of
users using connection for the first time.
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No. of
users using connection currently.
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Gain &
loss of customers by networks
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Insta
phone
Paktel
Mobilink
Ufone
Telenor
Al-Warid
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15
5
45
19
7
9
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2
1
34
29
13
21
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13
(Loss)
4
(Loss)
11
(Loss)
10
(Gain)
6
(Gain)
12
(Gain)
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Total
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100
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100
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28
(Loss) 28 (Gain)
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The
table above shows that many respondents have abandoned the use of
mobile connections of InstaPhone and Paktel while Mobilink also lost
some of its customers to other networks such as Ufone, Telenor and
Al-Warid over time. Al-Warid according to the survey has gained the
greatest number of customers, while Telenor is the second that gained
greater number of customers.
When
the respondents were asked whether they are satisfied with their
current network connection, 72% of them said they are satisfied while
only 28% of them said they are not satisfied with their current
network connection.
The
users were asked to rank their preferences in order of priority of
the following characteristics of cellular network connection. Their
responses are summarized in the following table.
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Cellular
Mobile Phone Service & Users’ Preferences in Quetta City Jan
Mohammad, Abu zar Wajidi Characteristics
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First
preference
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Second
preference
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Third
preference
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Fourth
preference
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Fifth
preference
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Sixth
preference
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%age
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Instant
connectivity
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38
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22
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12
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15
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8
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5
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100
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Voice
quality
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10
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21
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28
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17
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20
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4
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100
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Accessibility
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11
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15
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19
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34
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16
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5
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100
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Low call
rates
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31
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25
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21
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11
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10
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2
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100
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Low SMS
rates
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10
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15
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15
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19
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30
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11
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100
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Internet
connection
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0
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2
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5
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4
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16
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73
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100
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Total
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100
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100
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100
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100
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100
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100
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_
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The
figures in the above table shows that users assign highest priority
to the instant connectivity and low call rates. But they assign least
priority to the internet connection. This may be because of the
difficulty, cost and the low tendency for using internet on mobile
phones. The users are almost neutral about the accessibility and
voice quality. While there is tendency of low priority for the low
SMS rates because very few people use SMS. Taken together as a whole,
the data above reveals that instant connectivity is the users first
priority, low call rates at second, voice quality at third
accessibility at fourth, low SMS calls at fifth and internet
connection at sixth preference respectively. The data above gives an
insight to the cellular mobile phone service providers to gauge the
preferences of users and to devise their strategies accordingly.
Conclusions and Recommendations from literature:
The
use of cellular mobile phone service is growing rapidly. The service
providers are trying to attract more customers and capture high share
in the growing market. But as the competition is becoming stiffer and
stiffer among various service providers, and the market is becoming
saturated, new and customer oriented strategies are required to
sustain the market share. The Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
technology is now The Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) technology
is now out dated and the Global System for Mobile communication
(GSM), which
is Sim based technology, is gaining popularity among users because of
its advantages. GSM, Sim based technology is easily installable and
widely available in the ordinary shops. It can also store contact
numbers with huge storage capacity. When introducing new packages,
the service providers need to impose low activation charges. The
cellular mobile phone users are highly sensitive to the connectivity
problem. It is therefore suggested that these cellular networks must
improve their communication servers. Similarly, the customers give
value to those packages which are low in Many
customers do not use the new and customized packages due to the
problem of communicating those packages in English. It is again
suggested that these packages must be communicated in simple way so
that the customers can understand them.
ATERIALS AND METHODS:
To
find out the loyalty status and satisfaction level, 292 University
students between the ages of 18-25 years were randomly selected. A
structured questionnaire was used. Out of 292 respondents only 17
respondents 100 people data from questionnaire from my office,
university, friends etc and
192
from net respondent to this research survey. gave incomplete
information, therefore they were excluded from the study. In
Pakistan, there are five (5) cellular phone services providers,
namely
- Ufone
- Telenor
- Warid
- Zong
Respondents
were divided into five groups on the basis of their monthly
expenditure on mobile phone usage.
Group
1(Rs. 1-500), group 2 (Rs. 501-1000), group 3 (Rs. 1001-1500), group
4 (Rs. 1501-2000) and group 5 (Rs. 2000 and above). Data was also
collected for the customers, who have used any particular service
(out of five) at beginning and if changed as the current users.
Duration for the current usage was divided into group-I(less than one
year), group-II (1 to 2 years), group-III (2 to 3 years), group-IV (3
to 4 years) and group-V (more than 4 years), respectively.
Satisfaction level was determined as highly satisfied, satisfied,
average, dis-satisfied and highly dis-satisfied. Future intentions
for changing the current services were also explored as, to continue
with the current network, thinking about to change, not yet decided
and others mixed opinion. Only two options were given to the
respondents whether they will recommend their present services
provider to the peers as yes or no.
The
data was analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS-16), and was tabulated below as per criteria mentioned above in
materials and methods. The respondents were divided on the basis of
gender, monthly expenditure of mobile usage, users of the first and
if changed, then current users, duration of usage for the current
package, level of satisfaction, intentions for the future usage and
if satisfied enough then recommendation for the usage to the peers.
Table
1: Respondents’ Classification on Gender Basis
GENDER
(M 1, F 0)
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Frequency
Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
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Valid
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0 (F) 92
31.5 33.5
33.5
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1 (M) 183
62.7 66.5
100.0
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Total 275
94.2 100.0
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Missing System 17
5.8
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Total 292
100.0
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Table
1 reveals that there are 292 sample respondents, out of which 17 has
not answered all the questions, therefore, missing entries in a
system are 17. Total 275 respondents are answered the questions, out
of which 92 are female while 183 are male
Table
2: Monthly Expenditure on Mobile Phone Usage Basis
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Frequency Percent
Valid Percent Cumulative %
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Valid 1. Rs. 1 - 500
164 56.2
59.6 59.6
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2. Rs. 501 - 1000
68 23.3
24.7 84.4
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3. Rs. 1001 - 1500
14 4.8
5.1 89.5
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4. Rs. 1501 - 2000
21 7.2
7.6 97.1
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5. Rs. 2000 and above
8 2.7 2.9
100.0
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Total
275 94.2
100.0
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Missing System
17 5.8
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Total
292 100.0
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Table
2 illustrates the monthly expenditure of mobile usage per person.
Monthly expenditure was divided in five categories. ‘1’ indicates
the range of Rs. 1-500; ‘2’ indicates Rs. 501-1000; ‘3’
indicates Rs. 1001-1500; ‘4’ indicates Rs. 1501-2000 and ‘5’
is more than 2000. Table shows that 164 respondents has a monthly
expenditure on mobile phone usage is in between 1 to 500. This is
almost 60% of the total respondents .Similarly, 68 respondents has a
monthly expenditure is in the range of 5001 to 1000. 14 respondents
are
lying
in the 3rd category, where they spend their monthly expense on mobile
usage is in between 1001-1500. 21 respondents are categorized in 4th
category which is in the range of 1501-2000. Finally, 8 respondents
are placed in the fifth category where they spend more than 2000
monthly income on mobile usage.
Table
3: Percentage of Respondents’ as First Users
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Frequency
Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
percent
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Valid 1. Mobilink
68 23.3 24.7
24.7
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2. Ufon 38.5 63.3
106 36.3 38.5
63.3
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3. Telenor
50 17.1 81.5
50
|
|
4. Warid
31 10.6 11.3
92.7
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5. Zong
20 6.8 7.3
100.0
|
|
Total
275 94.2 100.0
|
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Missing System 17
5.8
|
|
Total
292 100.0
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Table
3 shows five categories of mobile company’s users. ‘1’ shows
Mobilink users, ‘2’ shows Ufone users , ‘3’ shows Telenor
users, ‘4’ shows Warid users and ‘5’ shows Zong users. Ufone
users are almost 36.3%, while Mobilink users are 23.3%, 17 percent
mobile users for Telenor, Warid users are 10.6% while Zong has just
6.8%. This table clearly illustrates the preference of mobile phone
companies as a first user.
Table
4: Current Mobile Services Users’ Status
|
Frequency
Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
|
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Valid 1. Mobilink 17
5.8 6.2
6.2
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2. Ufone 141
48.3 51.3
57.5
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3. Telenor 50
17.1 18.2
75.6
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4. Warid 26
8.9 9.5
85.1
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5. Zong 41
14.0 14.9
100.0
|
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Total
275 94.2 100.0
|
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Missing System 17
5.8
|
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Total
292 100.0
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Table
4 shows the current user of the telecom package, which showing the
deviating behavior of the
consumers
after uses telecom packages as a first user. The share of Ufone is
greater and almost 48.3%,
which
snatch the share mainly from Mobilink. Mobilink decreases their share
from 23.3% to 5.8% which is
drastically
decline. Zong surprisingly increasing their share from potential
consumers and it is increases their share from 6.8% to 14%.
Table
5: Duration of usage for current package
|
Frequency
Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative percent
|
|
|
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Valid 1 (less than 1 year) 67
22.9 24.4
24.4
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2 (1 to 2 years)
59 20.2 21.5
45.8
|
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3 (2 to 3 years)
47 16.1 17.1
62.9
|
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4 (3 to 4 years)
99 33.9 36.0
98.9
|
|
5 (4 to 5 years)
2 .7 .7
99.6
|
|
more than 5 years 1
.3 .4
100.0
|
|
Total
275 94.2 100.0
|
|
Missing System 17
5.8
|
|
Total
292 100.0
|
Table
5 illustrates duration of current user package from less than one
year (option 1); 1 to 2 years (option 2), 2-3 year (option 3); 3-4
year (option 4) and more than 4 years (option 5). Table 5 clearly
states that 34% current package user use their package from last 3 to
4 years. While option 1 avail almost 23%, option 2 avail 20.2%,
option 3 avail 16.1% and finally only 0.7% users use their mobile
package from more than 4 years.
Table
6: Level of Satisfaction for the current usage (percentages)
|
Frequency
Percent Valid percent cumulated percent
|
|
|
|
Valid 1 (highly satisfied) 68
23.3 24.7
24.7
|
|
2 (satisfied) 146
50.0 53.1
77.8
|
|
3 (average) 55
18.8 20.0
100.0
|
|
Total 275
94.2 100.0
|
|
Missing System 17
5.8
|
|
Total 292
100.0
|
Table
6 shows that maximum number of respondents are satisfied with their
current packages, and fall within three categories of highly
satisfied, satisfied and average.
Table
7: Future Intention
|
Frequency
Percent Valid percent cumulated
percent
|
|
|
|
Valid 1 (continue) 168
57.5 61.1
61.1
|
|
2 (thinking about change) 37
12.7 13.5 74.5
|
|
3 (not yet decided) 67
23.9 24.4
100.0
|
|
Total
275 94.2 100.0
|
|
Missing System 17
5.8
|
|
Total 292
100.0
|
Table
7 shows future intention of user for continuing the same package
(option-1) or thinking change (option- 2) or not yet decided
(option-3). 57.5% users are decided not to change their mobile
package, this clearly shows that they are satisfied with their
current package and they are brand loyal. 12.7% users has thinking
Table
8: Recommend to the other peers
PEER
REC.(Yes-1; No-0)
|
Frequency
Percent Valid Percent
Cumulative Percent
|
|
Valid 0 93
31.8 33.8
33.8
|
|
1 181
62.0 65.8
100.0
|
|
Total 275
94.2 100.0
|
|
Missing System 17
5.8
|
|
Total 292
100.0
|
Table
8 shows that when the users are satisfied their current package, they
are ultimately marketing the
same
brand to their peers. 62% users are likely to convey their feelings
and marketing their current package to some other peers while 31.8%
not likely to tell any one about their package
DISCUSSION:
Companies
are seeking for loyal and potential customers for which different
tactics like offering low prices, special incentives and also the
latest trend of trade shows and the concept of experiential marketing
are being used. Do all these tactics matter to create a level of
loyalty and satisfaction which may lead to certain level of trust
building in the mind of the customers?
By
reviewing the available literature related to this to this topic, it
can be argued that companies should show empathy for the customers.
Did the companies have conducted any proper research to find out the
target market for their products? As this paper shows the element of
trust as a major determinant of building loyalty and satisfaction in
the mobile phone service providers, it is obvious that there is a
stiff competition among the companies which are providing mobile
phone services in Pakistan namely Mobilink, Telenor, Ufone, Warid and
Zong. customers prefer certain retailers due to particular reasons.
These customers also consider that the retailers should be forgiven
for occasional mistakes. It is also highlighted that customers would
prefer the retailers already working with over the competition. This
is a good reason that the customers are attached with particular
customers, but it shold be searched out that why? What are those
factors that have built up such level of trust? From the mobile phone
service providers perspective certain relationship drivers are being
highlighted, which include staff attitude (particularly for CRM
purpose), deliver on promises, accurate information, ability to
handle problems (again for CRM purpose) and consistency. Furthermore
other drivers like staff availability, meeting expectations, and
image of the organization also play an important role in building
trust in the mind of the customers. In a developing country like
Pakistan, where the market is wide open for mobile companies it has
only five players in the field. All these companies should
concentrate on the customers; find out the variables that build up
the le vel of trust. Factors discussed earlier, but specifically in
relation to the mobile phone service providers, should work out to
improve the loyalty and satisfaction level.it has highlighted certain
factors like access, clarity, innovation, reliability and
trustworthiness as the ideal characteristics for determining the
customers’ loyalty. Certain companies have evolved the element of
customer relationship management (CRM), because the importance of
customers’ acquisition, maintenance and retention has been
realized. This is because of the growing competition day-by-day. But
the most important factor is the availability of CRM to the
customers. Research has highlighted that three major factors like
switching cost, corporate image and trust as the major determinants
of building the customers’ loyalty.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION:
Mobile
phone service providers (MPSP) industry is growing at a very fast
rate in terms of the number of customers in Pakistan. It has employed
a large number of people, and provides a very quick and cheaper
source of communication to the masses. For the time being there are
only five players in the market with a very stiff competition. All
these MPSPs are providing different packages on regular basis. The
big challenge is to attract and retain a large number of customers
for a longer period. This particular study is conducted to find out
the current market trend in Pakistan, the total number of customers
for each MPSP and also switching from one service to the other.
The
results show that Mobilink has lost quite a big chunk of customers to
Ufone. Furthermore the results also indicate that Mobilink share has
decreased from 23% to 5%, while on the other hand Ufone has increased
its number of customers from 36.3% to 48.3%. The results also
indicate that about 79.7% of the customers prefer to spend less on
the mobile phone usage. In terms of satisfaction levels about 50% of
the customers
indicate
that they are satisfied with the current service which is obviously
consisting of Ufone customers. All these satisfied customers also
tend to use the current service for more than 4-years. Keeping with
the same pace and all other indicators 57.5% of the customers
responded that they will continue with the same service and package.
RECOMMEDATIONS:
As
reviewed in literature and discussed certain factors, can help in
building trust, that contribute highly to customers’ loyalty and
satisfaction. Following are some of the recommendations/suggestions,
which can definitely help the mobile companies of Pakistan in
building the customers’ loyalty and satisfaction:
1.
The companies should find out that why the people should trust them
and must know the importance of this fact.
2.
Capitalize on the unique factors, which should weigh as the major
factors.
3.
To create factors that should act as the major relationship drivers
with the customers for a longer period.
4.
To work out on CRM, and practically show to the customers that “YOU
ARE # 1”.
5.
Always deliver on promises specifically for the factors that mainly
contribute to the buildup of customers’ trust.
6.
Increase the switching cost, once the customer is bound for a longer
period.
REFERENCES
1
http://telecompk.blogspot.com/
2
www.propakistani.com/
3
www.instaphone.com
4
Mr. Mubashar, Zonal Sales Officer, InstaPhone, Quetta.
5
www.paktel.com
6
www.ntcpk.com/
7
ibid
8
www.mobilinkgsm.com
9
Mr. Adnan Danish Nagi, Zonal Sales Officer, Mobilink, Quetta.
10
www.ufone.com.pk
11
www.wikipedia.com
12
Mr. Raheel, Zonal sales officer, Ufone,
Quetta.
13
www.waridtel.com.pk
14
The
Daily Jang Quetta
15
Mr. Tariq, Zonal Sales Officer, Al-Warid Telecom, Quetta
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