Marketing Flexibility Interaction Matrix and Consumer Clusters Preference Criteria in Telecommunication Sector

Abstract

The sequence of various events in Indian Telecom Sector has transformed the industry to become more competitive and dynamic in nature. With increasing competitive levels, the industry calls for more customer centric operations and flexible processes. The emphasis has been laid out in identifying various marketing functions and their use of various flexibility connotations in practise. The interaction matrix between marketing elements and flexibility connotations was developed through Delphi technique, which revealed connotations such as adaptiveness, customization and localness are mostly adopted for making the marketing processes flexible and customeroriented. The analysis of various customer preference factors with clustering technique revealed a solution of four cluster groups where the customer preferences differ on various parameters. The clustering technique points out that customer prefers the best network quality provider with better customer service and plethora of Value added services. Cluster analysis also revealed that celebrity endorsements and the advertisements are not the motivating factors for selecting the operator and they are used only as top of the mind recall. The use of flexibility concepts in various marketing activities such as branding, point of purchase, product innovations, product differentiation, product planning and development, pricing strategies and loyalty programs would help the telecom organizations to better manage their subscribers in these cluster groups.

Modified Total Interpretive Structural Modeling of Marketing Flexibility Factors for Indian Telecommunications Service Providers

“…The study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on the marketing flexibility concept by ascertaining the factors of marketing flexibility and determining the linkages and relationships among them to enhance the flexibility in the marketing operations of Indian telecom service providers. The results and findings are aligned with past studies and literature (Henten et al, 2003;Bourreau & Dog ˘an, 2004;Atasoy, 2013;Sharma et al, 2015;Rajaram & Yadagiri, 2018).…”

“…Further moving to explore literature in terms of marketing flexibility in the telecommunications industry, the literature is silent except for only one study on exploring marketing flexibility connotations in the telecommunications sector. The marketing flexibility interaction matrix explored in telecom sectors revealed subjects such as customization, adaptiveness, and localness are mostly used for making the marketing process flexible and customer-oriented (Sharma et al, 2015). They found that flexibility concepts are practiced in the telecom marketing area mainly in advertising, pricing strategies, product planning and development, segmentation, product innovation and differentiation, market research, loyalty program, brand personality, and point of purchase display.…”

m-commerce technology adoption

“…A hassle-free technical backend support and constant improvisation in m-commerce applications are enabling users to experience this phenomenon without any hassle, resulting in enhanced user friendliness toward technology adoption. Whole adoption process of any technology including mobile computing requires flexibility and mobility (Sharma et al , 2015; Shibin et al , 2016).…”

Using Fuzzy Delphi and Generalized Fuzzy TOPSIS to Evaluate Technological Service Flexibility Dimensions of Internet Malls

“…In this digital environment we cannot ignore the increasing influence of information technology and internet penetration on the Indian retail market; this has changed the industry by becoming more competitive and dynamic in nature (Sushil, 2016b). As a gradual increase in competitive levels is transforming the e-commerce platform, the industry is crying out for more customer centric operations and flexible processes (Sharma et al, 2015). In spite of the fact that flexibility is an implicit application of the marketing concept (Sharma et al, 2015), no study has directly addressed online marketing flexibility.…”

“…As a gradual increase in competitive levels is transforming the e-commerce platform, the industry is crying out for more customer centric operations and flexible processes (Sharma et al, 2015). In spite of the fact that flexibility is an implicit application of the marketing concept (Sharma et al, 2015), no study has directly addressed online marketing flexibility. The key constructs adopted in this study related to online marketing flexibilities are as follow.…”