HMCS Vancouver Pre-Deployment Brief - May 2024 (Web Version).pptx
Shreya main mrp
1. GOVINDRAM SEKSARIA INSTITUTE OF
MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH, INDORE
“A Study of Factors Affecting the Consumer Choice To Select
Mobile Service Providers”
(In the partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of
Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalya Indore)
Master of Business Administration (FT)
2012-14
GUIDED BY: SUBMITTED BY:
Dr. Avinash Desai Shreya Pathak
OPERATION MANAGEMENT MARKETING &
OPERATION
MANAGEMENT
4TH SEM
2. GOVINDRAM SEKSARIA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT &
RESEARCH, INDORE
(Affiliated to Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidhyalaya (DAVV) ,Indore)
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Shreya Pathak student of MBA IV sem. Specializing in marketing
and operation management has undertaken a project entitled “A Study of Factors
Affecting the Consumer Choice To Select Mobile Service Providers” under my guidance
and supervision for the partial fulfillment of requirement of the degree MBA (Full Time)
of Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidhayalaya, Indore for year 2012-14.
I further certify that the work compiled by her is genuine and has been arrived at her own.
She is appreciated for her own sincere efforts in collecting the relevant data. She has
shown tremendous potential in analyzing the same.
------------------------------- -----------------------
Dr. Avinash desai Dr. Rajendra Jain
PROJECT GUIDE DIRECTOR
--------------------------------
3. EXTERNAL EXAMINER
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that the project work entitled " A Study of Factors Affecting the
Consumer Choice To Select Mobile Service Providers "submitted to Govindram Seksaria
Institute of Management and Research, Indore is a record of an original work done by me
and this work has not performed the basis for the award of any degree or
diploma/associate ship/fellowship and similar project if any.
SHREYA PATHAK
M.B.A. 4th Semester
4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Exchange of ideas generates energy and will to work in a better way wherever, it is
helped and co-operated by others, and heart is bound to pay his gratitude and obligations
to them. During this research work I have been indebted to a number of individuals. I
take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude towards all those who have been
helpful for me directly and indirectly.
I am grateful and sincerely acknowledge the constant ardent help extended by my guide
Dr. Avinash Desai , parents, friends and family of G.S.I.M.R. for their time to time help
and final touch of my work.
I take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to Dr. Rajendra jain (Director of
G.S.I.M.R.) , and all other faculty members of the college and the Library staff, computer
lab staff, who helped me in many ways.
SHREYA PATHAK
M.B.A. 4th Semester
5. CONTENTS
S.
No.
Chapter Particulars Page
No.
1. Chapter -1 Introduction
2. Chapter -2 Review of Literature
3. Chapter -3 Rationale of the study
4. Chapter -4 Objectives
5. Chapter -5 Research Methodology
5.1 Sources of data
5.2 Methodology and presentation of data
5.3 Tools and techniques for data analysis
5.4 Research design
6. Chapter -6 Data Analysis
6.1 General information
6.2 Findings of questionnaire
7. Chapter -7 7.1 Limitations
7.2 Scope
8. Chapter- 8 Conclusion
8.1 Suggestions
9. Chapter-9 References
9.1 Webliography
9.2 Bibliography
10. Chapter-10 Annexure
10.1 Questionnaire
10.2 Data Sheet
6. CHAPTER 1
Introduction
The rapid growth and development in information technology and mobile devices has
made the Indian mobile phone service markets more and more competitive. In order to
sustain its present growth rate in the telecom sector. Mobile phones have become an
integral part of human daily life and a major source of personal communication across the
universe. By the end of 2007, there were approximately 3.3 billion mobile phone users
worldwide which is equivalent to a penetration rate of 49% of the last year. According to
the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (2008), the mobile phone
penetration rate in India increased its growth rate to over 50% in 2006 in comparison to
35% in 2005. The mobile phone market grew by 41.3% between 2003 and 2007.Within
this competitive market, it is essential for mobile phone companies to better understand
purchasing behavior to enable them to acquire new customers and retain existing ones.
Blackwell et al., (2001) demonstrated that culture has a profound influence on ‘how’ and
‘why’ consumers purchase a range of products and services. (Foxell et.al., 1994) stated
that the consumer’s motivation of product and service choices as well as lifestyle could
be shaped by cultural dimensions.
According to a Gartner report, after China, India would be fastest growing mobile
telephony market in Asia Pacific. Cellular penetration would increase to 38.6% in 2011
with 58% of rural population and 95% of urban population possessing mobile phone. The
market will be driven by prepaid connections, which will account for more than 93%
connections. The low rural mobile penetration of 2% represents an immense opportunity
for cellular players. The call rates will further drop to become closer to fixed line rates,
further lowering the entry barrier. Indian telecommunication Industry is one of the fastest
growing telecom markets in the world. The mobile sector has grown from around 10
million subscribers in 2002 to reach 150 million by early 2007 registering an average
growth of over 90%. The reasons for regular increase in the growth rate in telecom sector
are low tariff Rates, lesser pulse rates, & regular fall in handset prices.
7. Srivastava (2005) stated that the mobile phone has shifted from being a ‘technological
object’ to a key social object as communication with others is the main purpose for
mobile phone purchasing. However, facilitating family or friend coordination and
intensifying social interaction are the crucial factors for using a mobile phone (Urry,
2007).According to Castells et al., (2007, p.85), “obtaining a mobile phone is a milestone
that indicates success, not only financially but also culturally in term of the integration
within society”. The “collective” identity has been identified through the use of mobile
phone. Marquardt (1999) has claimed that mobile phones affect social relationships.
Mobile phone usage has resulted in greater electronic interactions between friends and
family at the expense of face to face interaction which have been dramatically reduced.
Consequently, it could be proposed that mobile phones are changing individual cultural
norms and values (Rauch, 2005).
After the implementation of government policies on globalization and liberalization, the
consumers have become more critical about the selection of service providers.
Consumers are now very much aware of the alternatives available in relation to services
and the provider organizations. Expectations of consumers are rising and the provider
organizations should be aware of these expectations. The objective of the present study is
to examine the factors responsible for helping the consumers to choose mobile
telecommunication service provider among the competitors in the market.
The primary statistical techniques used in the study are Exploratory Factor Analysis, and
Structural Equation Modeling. The data was collected with the help of structured
questionnaire consisting of different questions related to demographics, service quality,
product quality and availability, promotion and price in order to study perceptions of
consumers. In order to examine these above mentioned variables and to derive
meaningful conclusions, use of structural equation modeling was imperative. AMOS
(Analysis of Moment Structure) version 16.0 was employed in the research to test the
underlying hypotheses of the study. Results showed that the paths are significantly
related to the casual processes.
Price was found to be the most important factor followed by product quality and
availability, service quality, and promotion in determining perceptions of customers
towards mobile telecommunication services. It is expected that the findings of the study
8. may provide meaningful insights to the service providers and contribute in improving
their strategies and marketing operations
1.1 Indian Players in Mobile Telecom Sector
The Indian Players was open independently at vast level in the mid nineties. This industry
is now among the most prosperous & rising industry nowadays. A Number of Private
Players like Bharti Enterprises, BSNL,Idea etc. have ventured into this sector. Indian
Telecom companies basically offer two types of industries:
Cellular Services
The major players in this segment are Bharti Airtel, Idea, BPL Mobiles that use the
Global Satellite Management (GSM) Standard. With this Standard, telephone calls can be
made to & received from any place.
Basic Services
Major Players are AIRTEL, IDEA, Reliance using the code division multiple access
(CDMA) standard, which offers limited mobility. Calls can be made to & received from
certain fixed areas.
There are 13 service providers in India. With the new entrants like Fly, iNQ, Videocon,
Lava, iBall, Beetle, Palm, Sagem etc. in the mobile manufacturing segments , mobile
purchasers have a choice with themselves not only of which operator to select and which
technology but also what handsets they want.
After becoming the second most populated country in the world, India is set to achieve
another record of having half a billion wireless connections, thus becoming the second
largest group of mobile phone users after China. In fewer than twenty years ago, mobile
phones were considered to be rare and expensive pieces of equipment used by businesses
to a pervasive low-cost personal item but now it has become a common household item.
Building trust and adapting to the individual and local needs of the community are critical
success factors for the diffusion and success of cutting-edge information and
communication technology. With the introduction of private sector telecom service
9. provider in the state the competition in the telecom industry has increased significantly.
The aim of study was to objectively understand the behavior of mobile phone users in
Uttarakhand and further capture their satisfaction level that is influenced by various
technical and non technical factors. Specific aspects to be studied were usage pattern in
terms of the purpose for which mobile phones are generally used by various categories of
consumers, level of the satisfaction of users, reasons for dissatisfaction, if any, level of
satisfaction with gadgets and added services provided, liking for various attributes of the
mobile phone instrument and usage pattern of functionalities and added services. The
methodology to conduct the study was composed of different tasks such as review of
literature on consumer satisfaction in telecom industry, empirical research based on a
stratified random sample survey, a series of structured interviews and few focus group
discussions and analytical framework aimed at getting an insight in to the behavior of
consumer by analyzing the data / information gathered through empirical research. To
achieve the objective of the study 306 randomly selected mobile users of Uttarakhand
State were chosen. The father of telecom revolution in our country was the erstwhile
Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, wherein he called Mr. Sam Pitroda who initiated the
Digital telephony revolution in our country.
Advances in technology coupled with reforms of 1991 and the fundamental, structural
and institutional changes brought about in that period were instrumental in setting up the
tone for future growth and development. Today, India is one of the fastest growing
telecom markets in the world with current sub-scriber base nearing 490 mil-lion and
looking positive to touch 500 million subscribers by 2010. Among the various segments,
cellular or mobile segment has been the key contributor and specially prepaid services,
with its wide offerings of services, has been leading the growth wave. 15 years back, no
one had thought that India will become a country with more number of GSM subscribers
than fixed line sub-scribers.
With 490 million sub-scribers by 2009, teledensity has risen up to around 42%, and thus
the other half is yet to be brought to the mainstream. Going by the current data, the
subscriber base grew to around 494.07 million in August‘09, registering a growth of
42.67% over the last year. As per the estimates of Stock watch the expected mobile
subscriber base will touch around 771 million by the year 2013. Over the years, wireless
10. services has acquired almost 92% of the total telephony market, with State owned BSNL
as the leader in the landline domain and Bharti Airtel being the leader in cellular services
with other players like Reliance, Idea Cellular and Vodafone giving it a tough
competition. The Indian mobile services market is more or less equally divided between
GSM and CDMA customers with the former capturing around 53% of the sub-scriber
base.
Currently there are 11 players who are fighting tooth and nail to increase even one single
percentage point in their market share. While Bharti Airtel dominates the GSM arena,
Anil Ambani led ADAG‘s Reliance communications has been leading the CDMA
services space in mobile telephony but the good sign for the sector is that revenues of all
the incumbents have increased leading to an increase in their revenues.
In GSM, Bharti Airtel is given a tough competition by Vodafone and Tata Teleservices
which operates Tata Indicom and in CDMA; it is considerably behind Reliance
communications in terms of market share. With Mobile number portability coming into
the scene, the war will be fiercer in this space and there will be a huge swapping of
subscribers among the existing players. Indian telecom industry has set an example by
penetrating the market to an extent of around 43% in a span of 10 years when analysts
and experts were extremely skeptical about India as a market.
The growth has not been restricted only to the higher section of the society, now it is
driven primarily by the rural market as well and the acceptance has been in-creasing
considerably over the years. On an average approximately 8 million users are added per
month to the kitty thereby making India the world‘s fastest growing telecom market and
thus happens to be the country offering highest Return On Investment for the telecom
companies. To support the growing telecom market, the government is supporting
telecom manufacturing by providing tax sops as well as setting up Special economic
zones (SEZ) for the sector.
11. Service Provider Wise Market Share as on 2014-03-22
HISTORY OF INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS
It was Started in 1851 ,when the first operational land lines were laid by the government
near Calcutta (seat of British power). Telephone services were introduced in India in
1881. In1883 telephone services were emerged with the postal system. Indian Radio
Telegraph Company (IRT) was formed in 1923. After independence in 1947, all the
foreign telecommunication companies were nationalized to form the Posts, Telephone
and Telegraph (PTT), a monopoly run by the government's Ministry . Telecom sector was considered as
a strategic service and the government considered it best to bring understate's control. The first wind
of reforms in telecommunications sector began to flow in 1980swhen the private sector
was allowed in telecommunications equipment manufacturing. In1985, Department of
Telecommunications (DOT) was established. It was an exclusive provider of domestic
andlong distance service that would be its own regulator (separate from the postal
system). In1986, two wholly government-owned companies were created: the Videsh Sanchar
NigamLimited (VSNL) for international telecommunications and Mahanagar Telephone
NigamLimited (MTNL) for service in metropolitan areas. In 1990s, telecommunications
sector benefited from the general opening up of the economy. Also, examples of telecom
revolution in many other countries, which resulted in better quality of service and lower
12. tariffs, led Indian policy makers to initiate a change process finally resulting in opening
up of telecom services sector for the private sector. National Telecom Policy(NTP) 1994
was the first attempt to give a comprehensive roadmap for the Indian telecommunications
sector. In 1997, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was created. TRAI was
formed to act as a regulator to facilitate the growth of the telecom sector..
Telecommunication sector in India can be divided into two segments: Fixed Service
Provider (FSPs), and Cellular Services. Fixed line services consist of basic services,
national or domestic long distance and international long distance services. The state
operators (BSNL and MTNL), account for almost 90 per cent of revenues from basic
services. Private sector services are presently available in selective urban areas, and
collectively account .Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Code
Division Multiple Access (CDMA). The GSM sector is dominated by Airtel, Vodfone-
Essar, and Idea Cellular, while the CDMA sector is dominated by Reliance and Tata
Indicom. Opening up of international and domestic long distance telephony services are
the major growth drivers for cellular industry. Cellular he tariffs on airtime, which along
with rental was the main source of revenue. The reduction in tariffs for airtime, national
long distance, international long distance, and handset prices has driven demand
1.2 RECENT DEVELOPMENT IN INDIA
Mobile Number Portability (MNP):
TRAI announced the rules and regulations to be followed for the Mobile Number
Portability in their draft release on 23 September 2009.Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
allows users to retain their numbers, while shifting to different service provider provided
they follow the guidelines set by TRAI. Once a customer changes his/her service provider
& retaining the same mobile number they are expected toehold the mobile number with a
given provider for at least 90 days, before they decide to move to another service
provider. This restriction is set in place to keep a check on exploitation of MNP services
provided by the service providers. As per news reports, Government of India decided to
implement MNP from December 31, 2009 in Metros & category ‘A’ service areas and by March
20, 2010 in rest of the country. It has been postponed to March 31, 2010 in Metros & category 'A'
13. service areas. However, time and time again, lobbying by the state-run firms, BSNL and
MTNL has resulted in innumerable delays in the implementation of Mobile Number
portability. The latest report suggest BSNL and MTNL are finally ready to implement the
Mobile Number Portability by October 31, 2010.A press release by the Department of
Telecommunications on 30 June 2010 said "Keeping the complexity and enormity of the
testing involved before MNP is implemented and keeping in view the present status of
implementation by various operators, it has now been decided to extend the time line for
implementation of MNP to 31st October 2010."A news report on 25 November 2010 said
Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was finally launched in Haryana. The MNP service inaugurate by the
Union Minister of Communications& IT Mr. Kapil Sibal by making the inaugural call to Shri
Bhupindrer Singh Hooda, the Chief Minister of Haryana from a ported mobile number in function
held at Rohtak city. Another news report said it will be implemented across India on January 20, 2011.
Even as Do T has recommended a porting fee of Rs. 19, some operators such as Idea
Cellular may consider waiving off the porting charges
2) Next generation networks:
In the Next Generation networks can connect customers to a core network based on
technology. These access networks include networks connected to fixed locations or
customers connected through as well as to networks connected to users. As a result, in the
future, it would be impossible to identify whether the next generation network is a fixed
or mobile network and the would be used both for fixed and mobile services. It would
then be futile to differentiate between fixed and mobile networks.
AIRTEL
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as airtel , is an Indian telecommunications
company that operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Island It
operates a GSM network in all countries, providing2G or 3Gservices depending upon the
country of operation. Airtel is the fifth largest telecom operator in the world with over 207.8
million subscribers across 19 countries at the end of 2010. It is the largest cellular service provider in
India with over 152.5 million subscribers at the end of 2010. Airtel is the 3rd largest in-
14. country mobile operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom. Airtel
also offers fixed line services and broadband services. It offers its telecom services under
the Airtel brand and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mitttal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom
service provider to achieve this Cisco Gold Certification. To earn Gold Certification,
Bharti Airtel had to meet rigorous standards for networking competency ,service, support
and customer satisfaction set forth by Cisco. The company also provides land-line telephone
services and broadband Internet access (DSL) in over 96cities in India. It also acts as a
carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company
has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting
Chennai and Singapore. It is known for being the first mobile phone company in the world
to outsource everything except marketing and sales and finance. Its network (base
stations, microwave links ,etc.) are maintained by Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Network and
Huawei. , business support by IBM and transmission towers by another company (Bharti
Infratel Ltd. In India). Ericsson agreed for the first time, to be paid by the minute for
installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front. This
enabled the company to provide pan-India phone call rates of Rs. 1/minute
(U$0.02/minute). Call rates have come down much further. During the last financial year
[2009-10], Bharti has roped in a strategic partner Alcatel-Lucent to manage the network
infrastructure for the Tele media Business.
IDEA
Idea Cellular, usually referred to as Idea, is a wireless company operating in all the 22
telecom circles in India based in Mumbai. In 2000, Tata Cellular was a company providing
mobile services in Andhra Pradesh. When Birla-AT&T brought Maharashtra and Gujarat
to the table, the merger of these two entities was a reality. Thus Birla- Tata-AT&T, popularly
known as Batata, was born and was later branded as !dea. Then Idea set sights on RPG’s
operations in Madhya Pradesh which was successfully acquired, helping Batata have a
million subscribers, and the license to be the fourth operator in Delhi was clinched .In
2004, Idea (the company had by then been rechristened) bought over the Escorts group’s
Escotel gaining Haryana, Uttar Pradesh (West) and Kerala and licenses for three more UP
(East), Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh. By the end of that year, four million Indians
15. were on the company’s network. In 2005, AT&T sold its investment in Idea, and the year
after Tatas also bid good bye to pursue an independent telecom business. And Idea was left only
with one promoter, the AV Birla group. When the company’s stock listed on the bourses
in March 2007, its subscriber base was 13 million with presence in 11 circles. In less than
three years, the subscriber numbers have more than quadrupled. The public issue was
oversubscribed 50 times and raised Rs 2,450crore.In June 2008, Idea Cellular bought out
BK Modi’s stake in Spice Communications for Rs 2,700 crore adding Punjab and Karnataka
circles. Modi’s joint venture partner, Telekom Malaysia, invested Rs 7,000 crore for a 14.99%
stake in Idea. Just around then, Idea’s subsidiary, Aditya Birla Telecom sold a 20% stake
to US -based Providence Equity Partners for over Rs 2,000 crore.
16. CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
(Wagner, 2005) ‘The success of mobile learning will ultimately revolve around a mosaic
of rich converged experiences. These experiences will rest, in turn, on a foundation of
converged network and device technologies, wireless services, rights management,
content management, search management, and transactional processing power. As with
the implementation of any innovative scheme, significant technical and administrative
challenges will be encountered. These will be met along with amore ill-defined challenge.
‘How can these of mobile technologies help today’s educators to embrace a truly earner
centered approach to learning?’ Robins (2008) this paper is about marketing the next
generation of mobile telephones. The study is about third generation of cell phone
technology, what is usually known as “3G” for short. There are various issues about that
new innovative. One show to price 3G handsets and services at a level which will enable
telephone operating companies to recoup the high prices they have already paid to
governments for operating licenses. Second the technology is not yet complete, there are
no agreed international standards and companies do not yet know what new services the
technology will prove Capable of delivering effectively. All variants of 3G remain
dependent on largely unproven technology.
Marketing 3G is going to be about services which are new and in many cases, yet to be
designed. At the same time, it will involve services which can also be obtained by
computer and other means. It follows that the marketing task will be high risk. First, 3G
has no obviously unique selling proposition to build on except, perhaps, the combination
of live video and easy portability. Second, the potential customers have not yet had
adequate opportunity to signal their service likes and dislikes. Third, the cost and
complexity of service provision leave doubt about the market’s reaction to price.
(S.L.Rao and I. Natrajan) explains that the prime focus of the service providers is to
create a loyal customer basely Benchmarking their performances and retaining existing
customers in order to benefit from their loyalty. With the commencement of the
economic liberalization in 1991, and with view to expand and improve telecom
infrastructure through the participation of the private sector, the Government of India
17. permitted foreign companies holding 51 percent equity stake in joint ventures to
manufacture telecom equipment in India.
The Indian Government has announced a new policy, which allows private firms to
provide basic telephone services. There had been a monopoly of the state owned
department of telecommunications. However, several companies are expected to benefit
from the policy change. Jha (2008), in his study analyzed that it is the youth which is the
real growth driver of the telecom industry in India. Considering this fact, the paper is an
attempt to give a snapshot of how frequently young people use their mobile phones for
several embodied functions of the cell phones. Data was collected from a sample of 208
mobile phone owners, aged between 20 and 29The study sheds light on how gender,
monthly voucher amount and years of owning mobile phones influence the usage pattern
of this device.
Findings of the study would be helpful for the telecom service providers and handset
manufacturers to formulate a marketing strategy for different market segments. They
need to bridge the gap between the services promised and services offered. The overall
customers’ attitude towards cell phone services is that they are satisfied with the existing
services but still they want more services to be provided.
Kumar(2008), in their study titled “Customer Satisfaction and Discontentment vis a vis
BSNL Landline Service: A Study” analyzed that at present, services marketing plays a
major role in the national economy. In the service sector, telecom industry is the most
active and attractive. Though the telecom industry is growing rapidly, India's telecom
density is less than the world’s average telecom density as most of India's market is yet to
be covered.
This attracts private operators to enter into the Indian telecom industry, which makes the
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) more alert to run its business and survive in the
market. Seth et al (2008), in their study titled “Managing the Customer Perceived Service
Quality for Cellular Mobile Telephone: an Empirical Investigation” analyzed that there is
relative importance of service quality attributes and showed that responsiveness is the
most importance dimension followed by reliability, customer perceived network quality,
assurance, convenience, empathy and tangibles. This would enable the service providers
to focus their resources in the areas of importance. The research resulted in the
18. development of a reliable and valid instrument for assessing customer perceived service
quality for cellular mobile services.
A. Service Quality
Zeithaml et.al (1996) offered a conceptual model of service quality. The service quality
affects particular behaviors that indicate whether customers will remain loyal to or leave
an organization. Superior service quality leads to favorable behavioral intentions, which
leads to retention, which leads to ongoing revenue, increased spending, payment of price
premiums, and generation of referred customers. Service quality is measured infive
dimensions they are reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. Wang
and Lo (2002) studied on comprehensive integrated framework for service quality,
customer value and customer satisfaction and behavior reinvention of customers in China.
Omotayo and Joaching (2008) found a strong relationship between customer service,
satisfaction and retention in the communication industry in Nigeria. So, It can be
assumed at Service Quality is the one of the main factors influencing the Indian mobile
subscribers Intention for switching the service provider. First Hypothesizes formulates
as.Hypothesis1 (H1): The service quality has a significant effect on Mobile Subscriber
Intention for Switching of service provider
B. Service Affordability
Affordability is a measure of cost related to the amount thata purchaser is able to pay.
Kollmann (2000) states that Price plays a vital role in telecommunication market
especially for the mobile telecommunication service providers. Michael Draganska &
Dipal Jain (2003) analyzed that companies should differentiate consumer preference by
using product line as a price discrimination tool by providing different variety of tariff
plans to consumer to purchase the product or service according to their requirement. India
is having 752.19 Million mobile subscribers and Information Mobile Intelligence reports
claim that in Average Minutes Per User(AMPU) in India is 25 to 30 minutes per day of
active time on voice calls and almost 15 to 20 minutes per day of the active time on
messaging. Bharati the major mobile service Provider in India claims as on November
19. 2010 that Indian Monthly Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is 202 rupees which is
reduced at 20% on a year base and it is expected to decrease further. As there is an
increase in mobile subscribers and increase in AMPU at the same time there is a decrease
in ARPU Mobile service providers are planning to attract Mobile subscriber to their
service with less affordable price. Jallet andFredric (2008) analyzed the importance of
yield management and discrimination pricing in telecommunication sector. Yield
management techniques can help telecom operators and similar companies to optimize
the benefits they can derive from a subtle management of information networks and
partnerships. So, Service affordability is the also one of the main factors influencing the
Indian mobile subscribers Intention for switching the service provider. Second
Hypothesizes formulates as.
C. Promotional Offers
Alvarez and Casielles (2005) specified promotion is a set of stimuli that are offered
sporadically and it reinforces publicity actions to promote the purchasing of a certain
product. Mobile service providers are giving different promotional offers like prepaid
offers on top-up recharge, E-recharge mobile top up vouchers for prepaid connection,
chota recharge top up, bonus cards, phone alert of astrology, cricket score, call
management services, caller tunes, free mobile calls, Short Message Services(SMS)
offers, limited time free internet usage, various kinds of ring tone services, dialer tone
services and other promotional offers to attract the mobile subscriber .Chinnadurai and
Kalpana (2006) analyzed the increasing competition in cellular services, changing mobile
subscriber taste and changing preferences of the customer’s all over the world. These
circumstances are forcing companies to change their customer promotional strategies. It
is analyzed that advertisement play a dominant role in influencing the customers but most
of the customers are of opinion that promotional strategies of cellular companies are
more sale oriented rather than customer oriented.
Fornell (1992) suggests that switching cost is a source of preventing brand switching
behavior of customer. Switching cost can make it costly for customers to switch brands.
It has been researched by many researchers that higher switching cost stops brand
20. switching behavior. Customers leverage benefits and cost before taking decision about
brand switching. If perceived benefits of new product or service are lower than switching
cost, customer will likely to remain with the existing brand (Lees et al., 2007). If service
providers aim at convincing competitors’ customers to switch, they have to provide low
prices or higher benefits to them in order to compensate high switching cost.
Lee and Murphy (2005) have investigated a number of factors that influence customers to
switch mobile service providers. Their findings suggested that price is the most
important factor that persuades customers to change their commitments to other mobile
service providers.
Rajkumar (2011) suggest that price is not always brand switching influencer. He
explained that customers who are quality conscious prefer to pay high prices for high
quality. It influences those customers who have limited income. Companies use this
feature of price and provide price comparisons to customers in order to persuade them to
try new products.
Literature review discussed about influence of price on brand switching suggests that
price is major influencer for brand switching. It is not necessary that price always affects
brand switching. Customers with low income are more influenced by changes in price to
switch service providers whereas quality conscious customers are less influenced by
changes in price to switch brands.
Brand switching is a process in which customers tend to end relationship with a particular
company and start relationship with a new one. All industries have experience brand
switching but telecommunication industry is more exposed to it. There are many factors
that influence brand switching. On one end they persuade customers to switch over other
company and on the other hand they prevent brand switching. Price has been found most
influential factor in brand switching in telecom sector. Besides price there have been
many factors that enhance brand switching like quality service, coverage area, trust,
advertisement, and brand image. All these factors have been critically analyzed in the
literature review in the light of work of previous researchers.
21. CHAPTER 3
RATIONALE OF STUDY
So as per the stiff competition in the market between these companies, it is important to
find out which parameters companies are being preferred by the customers in terms of
various dimensions. Also customers have different mindset towards publican private
sector companies. The reforms in the mobile telecommunication sector which were
started towards end of 1999 have ushered radical changes in the mobile
telecommunication market. The Indian mobile telecommunication sector is vast and there
are big business opportunities for the mobile telecommunication players. Before the entry
of private mobile telecommunication players in Indian mobile telecommunication
industry, public sector companies had complete autonomy in the market. With almost all
the public and private insurance companies offering the same kind of services and
network coverage, the quality of service offered to the customers became one of the
important differentiators for all the public and private insurance companies to maintain
their competitive advantage in the market. Service quality refers to the perception of the
customers of the organization regarding how well the organization is fulfilling their
service needs.
22. CHAPTER 4
OBJECTIVES
1. To study various Value Added Services offered by mobile service providers like
tariff plans, bulk SMS, mob banking & internet etc.
2. To study CRM provided by them.
3. To study the reason behind switching off towards another provider from current
one.
23. CHAPTER 5
RESEARCH METHEDOLOGY
The word research is derived from the Latin word meaning to know. It is a systematic
and replicable process, which identifies and defines problems, within specified
boundaries. It employs well-designed method to collect the data and analyses the results.
It disseminates the findings to contribute to generalize able knowledge. The main
characteristics of research presented below are:
Systematic problem solving which identifies variables and tests relationships
between them
Collecting, organizing and evaluating data.
Logical, so procedures can be duplicated or understood by others
Reductive, so it investigates a small sample which can be generalized to a larger
population
Replicable, so others may test the findings by repeating it.
Discovering new facts or verify and test old facts.
For the proper analysis of data simple statistical techniques such as percentage were use.
It helps in making more generalization from the data available. The data which will be
collected from a sample of population was assumed to be representing entire population
was interested. Demographic factors like age, gender was used for the classification
purpose.
24. 5.1 SOURCES OF DATA
Primary Data: Structured questionnaire
Secondary Data: The study contains secondary data i.e. data from authenticated
websites and journals for the latest updates just to gain an insight for the views of various
experts. Because it is a pilot study and due to time constraint the sample size is small.
5.2 METHODOLOGY & PRESENTATION OF DATA
The data collected is then coded in the tables to make the things presentable and more
effective. The results are shown by tables which will help me out in easy and effective
presentation and hence results are being obtained.
5.3 TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES USED FOR ANALYSIS
In this study the technique used for interpreting the results is Z-test.
Z-Test: A Z-test is any statistical test for which the distribution of the test statistic under
the null hypothesis can be approximated by a normal distribution.
Z = (X − μ0) / s
5.4 RESEARCH DESIGN
The design for this study is Exploratory and Convenient sampling.
25. CHAPTER 6
DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETETION
6.1 General Information
Data has been collected from the sample through questionnaire survey. In this chapter
data has been presented systematically. Results of each question have been presented in
the form of percentages. Results are presented in tables and graphs for proper analysis.
Respondents were asked to mention their age and gender in questionnaire. Different age
categories possess different preferences regarding mobile services. Same is true for
gender of mobile service subscribers. Mobile service providers can analyze the needs and
wants of different genders and that of age categories in order to design better services for
different.
6.2 FINDINGS OF QUESTIONNAIRE
Q.1 Frequency Distribution of Age of Sample
Five age ranges were given in the questionnaire. Frequency distribution of age of
respondents is shown in the following table.
Table no.1
Age of Respondents
Age % of Respondents
Less than 20 Years 13
21 - 30 Years 35
31 - 40 Years 31
41 - 50 Years 13
Above 50 Years 8
Total 100
26. Interpretation Frequency distribution of sample shows that 13% respondents were
less than 20 years old, 35 % respondents were between 21 – 30 years of age. 31 %
respondents were in the age category of 31 – 40 years of age, 13 % respondents were in
the age category of 41 – 50 years. Only 8% respondents were above 50 years of age. The
data shows that most of the respondents were in the middle age category. Graphical
representation of frequency distribution of age of respondents is shown in the following
table:
Q.2 Frequency Distribution of Gender of Sample
Respondents were asked to mention their gender in the questionnaire. By analyzing needs
and wants of males and females mobile service providers can design specific packages
for males and females. In the following table frequency distribution of gender of
respondents is shown.
Table no. 2
Gender of Respondents
Gender % of Respondents
Male 52
Female 48
Total 100
27. 52
51
50
49
48
47
46
male female
M
F
Interpretation The results show that there were 52 % males and 48 % females in the
sample. Two deductions can be made from results. The first is that more males use
telephonic services and the second is that more males have shown their intentions to fill
the questionnaire.
Q.3 Type of Telephonic Service
Respondents were asked about type of telephonic services used by them. In telephonic
services fixed line and mobile services are common. Respondents were given these
options in the questionnaire. Results about type of telephonic services are given in below
table.
Table no.3
Which Phone type you are using currently?
Phone Type % of Respondents
Prepaid 84
Postpaid 16
Total 100
28. 100
80
60
40
20
0
postpaid prepaid
Interpretation Above data shows that most of the respondents in the area have pre-paid
connections. And I got only 16% questionnaire filled by post-paid users.
Q.4 Mobile Service Provider
Respondents were asked to mention mobile service provider whose services are used by
them currently. This question was asked to analyze the major share of different mobile
service providers. The results are helpful in determining the most favorable preference of
respondents for mobile service providers. In the following table responses of respondents
are summarized.
Table no. 4
Which Mobile phone operator is currently in your use?
Service Provider % of Respondents
Airtel 65
Idea 35
Others 0
Total 100
29. 70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
idea airtel others
Interpretation The results show that 65 % respondents were availing mobile services
of “Airtel”. 31 % respondents were using services of “Idea”. There are 4 % respondents
who were using other services. The results show that Airtel is mostly used by the
respondents. Idea is found to be at second place used by the respondents.
Q.5 Scheme you are using.
Respondents were asked about the schemes they are using fro there current provider.
They respond on three factors i.e. lifetime, monthly plan, pay per second plan.
Applying significance test i.e. Z-test to check the acceptance or rejection
rate.
Ha1: Pay per second plan plays significant role in switching mobile service provider.
Ho1: Pay per second plan don’t plays significant role in switching mobile service
provider.
30. Table no. 5
Scheme Respondent
Lifetime 50
Pay per second 36
Monthly 14
Z(calculated) 2.20
Since calculated value of Z is more than 1.96 at significance level 5%, hence the null
hypothesis is acceptable and it proves that pay per second plan plays a significant role in
switching mobile service provider.
50
40
30
20
10
0
lifetime monthly pay per second
Q.6 How long have you used the service of that company?
Table no. 6
Time Duration Users
Less than one year 16
1-2 years 26
2-4 years 17
More than 4 years 41
31. 45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
Interpretation Above table analysis depicts that most of the users are using their
telecom service from more than 4 year. Some of the users are also using it from last 2-4
year, where minority was using from less than 1 year.
Q.7 Overall, how satisfied are you, with network of your company?
Table no. 7
BRANDS AIRTEL IDEA
TARRIF 17 4
BULK SMS 5 6
MOBILE BANKING 42 6
INTERNET 6 4
CRM 0 10
0
less than 1
year
1-2 years 2-4 years more than 4
years
32. 45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
airtel idea
tarrif
bulk sms
mobile banking
internet
crm
Interpretation Above data analysis shows that Airtel is being preferred because of its
mobile internet service. And Idea because of its CRM.
Q.8 Switching of mobile service provider
Table no. 8
Switching from current to other
Suggestions % of Respondents
Not at all 13
Once 35
Twice 26
Thrice 17
More than thrice 9
Total 100
33. 35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
not at all once twice thrice more than
thrice
Interpretation Above table presents clear picture about results of switching behavior
of respondents. There were 13% respondents who have never switched mobile service
provider. 35 % respondents have switched mobile service providers once in the life.
There were 26 % respondents who have changed mobile service provider twice in their
life. 17 % respondents have switched mobile service provider thrice in their life. There
were only 9 % respondents who have switched mobile service providers for more than
thrice. The results suggest that 87% respondents have experienced switching mobile
service providers.
Q.9. Reasons behind switching from current service provider to another
one
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY
Table no. 9.1
BETTER SERVICE QUALITY
Suggestions % of Respondents
Strongly Agree 24
Agree 37
Neutral 8
Disagree 19
Strongly Disagree 12
Total 100
35. GOOD NETWORK COVERAGE
Table no.9.3
GOOD NETWORK COVERAGE
Suggestions % of Respondents
Strongly Agree 24
Agree 35
Neutral 14
Disagree 17
Strongly Disagree 10
Total 100
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
strongly
agree
agree neutral disagree strongly
disagree
100
Chapter 7
Limitation and Scope of Study
7.1 Limitations
The users of cellular phones are geographically widespread and hence contacting
them was time consuming.
The sample size was limited to 100 because of time and cost factors.
The information collected may not be sufficient and reliable in terms of total
market conditions in India as Indore represents only a small portion of the total
national market.
36. The study was time bound.
Few of the respondent were not open with their responses.
Seldom had to come across respondents who did not have much idea about the
objectives of the study.
7.2 Scope
The study will help the company to understand the mobile service user’s selection
of particular connection.
The product or brand awareness of mobile users.
The level of satisfaction of mobile service users.
Problems faced by mobile users.
Examine the factors which influence the choice of mobile services.
Innovation in services and product by the responses and suggestions given by the
respondents.
37. Chapter 8
Conclusion
This chapter presents conclusion of the whole research. All the findings have been
concluded here. On the basis of results of primary data and that of secondary data some
recommendations have been proposed to the telecommunication companies of Indore in
order to stop their customers for brand switching. Future prospects of research have also
been presented in this chapter.
This particular research aimed at examining the factors influencing brand switching in
telecommunication industry of Indore. In order to examine the factors triangulation
methodology has been adopted. Questionnaire strategy has been used by the researcher
for collecting primary data. There were 87% respondents who have experienced brand
switching of service providers at any stage in their life. 13% respondents have never
switched mobile service providers. The findings of research suggest that there price has
been most influential factor in decisions of customers regarding brand switching. The
results have shown that most of respondents switch mobile service providers in response
to changes in prices.
Brand image has also been found an influential factor in determining the final decision of
customers regarding brand switching. Brands that have appealing image attract customers
of other service providers and retain their own customers for long time period.
Finally the objectives of research are reviewed as follows:
Switching behavior is a process which persuades customers to end relationship
with a particular company and to start a new relationship with another company.
Price has been the most important factor that influences brand switching. Other
factors that have been found encouraging for brand switching in
telecommunication industry of Indore are: Service quality, Customer care, value
added services and brand image.
Most important factor that prevents brand switching is switching cost. High
switching cost prohibits customers to switch over other service providers. Other
factors that stop customers for brands switching are: personal or professional
38. commitments regarding changing number, low service charges, high quality and
appealing brand image of existing service providers.
Most of the respondents prefer Airtel in Indore which has low switching rate.
After Idea has been found popular in the respondents.
8.1 Suggestions
Based on data collection through subscribers survey , certain suggestion are given.
Many respondents complaint about the disturbance during traveling. So some
measures should be taken to overcome this problem.
Most of the idea/airtel users have complaint about the network problem in city
limits, more towers should be put up to avoid this problem.
The charges from mobile to land lines should be common.
Idea/Airtel should try to expand its coverage area and should provide roaming
facility all over India.
The customer care of idea/airtel are pathetic, it should be checked.
The talk-time should be increased.
The grace period should be increased from 30 to 45 days.
Idea should try to expand its coverage area.
Free sms services should be provided by both the operators.
Various schemes and services should be provided which will help the service
provider to turn new subscribers and gain confidence among already existing
subscribers.
Night offer should be provided.
Call rate must be low.
If call ends at 1 min. 1 sec. it is charged for 2 min. which the company should have
to work on it.
39. Chapter 9
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43. Chapter 10
Annexure
10.1 Questionnaire
I, Shreya Pathak pursuing MBA 4th semester from GSIMR, Indore request you to please
fill the questionnaire as per your choices asked given below. It’s all about my academic
activity for Major Research Project on “A study of factors affecting consumer choice
to select mobile service provider” and I assure you that all the information filled by you
will be kept confidential.
1. Name …………………………
2. Age group you belongs to
a. less than 20 years b. 21-30 c. 31-40 d. 41-50 e. above 50
3. Gender a. Male b. female
4. Mobile connection you are using
a. Postpaid b. prepaid
5. From given below which provider you presently own
a. Idea b. Airtel c. Others
6. From your provider which scheme you are using
a. lifetime b. pay per second c. monthly
44. 7. For how long you are availing the services of your service provider
a. less than 1 year b. 1-2 year c. 2-4 year d. more than 4 years
8. Reasons for choosing your current service provider
Strongly
satisfied
Satisfied Neutral Dissatisfied Strongly
dissatisfied
Tariff
Bulk SMS
Mobile
banking
Internet
CRM
9. For how many times you have switched your service provider to other.
a. not at all b. once c. twice d. thrice e. more than thrice
10. Reasons from switching from current service provider to other i.e. Idea to Airtel
or Airtel to Idea
Features Idea Airtel
Better service quality
Value added services
Good network coverage