Drivers of Brand Switching Behavior in Mobile Telecommunications

Abstract

Brand switching refers to migration of users from one brand to another. Switching is associated with negative consequences such as declining market share and poor profitability. As such, mobile telecommunications user switching has become a critical issue facing mobile service providers. Drawn from an online self-completion survey of mobile telecommunications users (N = 24,141) across four countries, this study examines previously unexplored antecedent factors determining brand switching behavior of mobile telecommunications users, and the relative importance of those factors. The research identifies the overall dimensions of switching behavior and then validates a theoretical model. The regression model suggests weak coefficient of determination (R2) between the dependent and independent variables. The study bridges the theoretical and practical knowledge gap in the literature by examining factors influencing consumers' switching behavior. Two economically developed and two emerging economies were selected in this study to examine potential differences in consumers' behavior towards mobile telecommunications services in both emerging and developed markets, and help us understand the potential reasons for these differences.

Mismatched Endorsement: Role of Korean Endorsers on Philippines’ Telecommunication Brands

“…Such a positive consumer attitude resulted in the desired change in terms of the consumers' purchase intention. Grigoriou et al (2018) aimed to identify the underlying factors that make consumers prefer a mobile telco brand over another, and they found out in their research that a good quality in the following drivers causes for the consumers' brand-switching behavior: voice communications, data download, billing experience, pricing plans, call center experience, in-store experience, and country location. Furthermore, the study mentioned that all these drivers must be integrated into the business plan of a mobile telco provider to avoid losing customers to another brand.…”

An investigation of brand equity dimensions and customer retention: A perspective of postpaid telecom subscribers in Lagos State, Nigeria

“…The notion of customer retention enlarged when most businesses experienced remarkable loss of customers, along with the difficulty and high costs of acquiring new customers [Bird, 2005]. According to the opinion of Athanasopoulou [2009] and Nicholas et al [2018], nowadays customers have more options to choose from, and so the basis of rivalry has shifted from acquiring new customers to retention. Brand equity through brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, and brand loyalty give self-confidence to customer when taking an informed choice decision [Valavi, 2014].…”

“…The liberalization of the Nigerian telecom sector and its phenomenal growth since the introduction of mobile telephony in 2001 has created a highly competitive environment, hence, the need for the operators to strive toward enhancing their brand equity. According to Nicholas et al [2018], the degree of customer attrition is growing in the Nigerian telecom industry due to a number of reasons such as mobile number portability-MNP which enable subscribers to change networks without changing their numbers and the growing proportion of new mobile telephone devices that have multi-subscriber identification module-SIMs. In the opinion of Michael [2015], the Nigerian telecom industry is confronted by changing market dynamics in term of greater choice for subscribers and intense market competition which erode value to the operators.…”

The Effect of Customer Equity on Brand Commitment and Brand Switching on Samsung Smartphone Users

“…Companies are also required to understand customer equity because through customer equity the company can find out what strengths and weaknesses are in their products. Munazza and Ilhaamie (2019) found the results that Customer Equity had a positive effect on Brand Switching behavior, as were the results of research from Edin and Mustafa (2018) and Grigoriou et al (2018). Because customer equity with brand switching has not been consistent.…”