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Switching behavior is predominantly seen in the consumer buying behavior of the mobile industry. This research aims to identify the factors influencing consumers to switch from their present mobile service provider. The consumer of the mobile industry operates in a dynamic and ever-changing environment that is difficult to predict, so this paper aims to focus on these issues.

The selection of factors was made with the help of qualitative study and quantitative research methods for further findings; with the help of a structured questionnaire, a total of 514 valuable responses were collected to get the results. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to analyze the data.

The finding shows that technology and edge-on-competition (TEC) and pricing have a negative influence on customer switching behavior. The switching cost (SC) is the most significant factor and has a positive impact, while service encounter failure (SEF) also positively impacts switching behavior.

The findings provide important implications for consumers switching brands if they are finding alternative offers that are cost-effective and SEF from service providers

The study of one of the largest mobile markets is learning lessons for other markets around the world. This study will be helpful for mobile service provider companies in their branding and marketing strategies. This study will also be helpful to practitioners, educators and researchers in understanding the consumer behavior of mobile users.

The learning of the largest mobile market will be a great learning lesson for other mobile markets around the world. Consumer behavior will help marketers follow ethical practices and make their strategy so a consumer does not switch brands and remain satisfied with the existing brand.

The study provides unique learning for practitioners, educators and researchers to understand the consumer behavior of mobile users. This will help marketers create factors that stop consumers from switching brands and develop strategies to retain customers.

The study addresses the effect of product usage, satisfaction derived out of the same and the brand switching behaviour in several product categories while looking at the product involvement level in the Indian marketplace. A fair amount of work has been done in the area of customer satisfaction and loyalty and many customer satisfaction indexes are available in the market using different variables and characteristics. The study attempts to understand the brand switching behaviour of the customers and its relation not with just satisfaction derived out of the product but also connects to the usage pattern of the customers and product involvement. Five categories (vehicles, television, soap, hair oil, and ice cream), involving varying levels of involvement were chosen. Cluster analysis was used to understand the grouping of the characteristics across the categories and their effect on brand switching behaviour in correlation with satisfaction and involvement level. It was observed that product usage and related level of satisfaction fail to explain the brand switching behaviour. Product involvement was found to have moderate impact on readiness to switch. The study emphasises that marketers will have to keep a constant eye to understand the usage pattern associated with their products and the satisfaction derived out of it and also at how customers involve themselves with the product to lessen the brand switching behaviour among their customers.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of customer equity on the brand-switching behaviour of millennial Muslim consumers in Pakistan and Malaysia using the theory of planned behaviour framework.

Data were collected from 706 millennial Muslim consumers from two universities in each country through a self-administered questionnaire using a multi-cluster probability sampling and were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The findings demonstrate that the customer equity dimensions (awareness of American brands, perceived quality and image of American brands) are significantly different between the two countries, and moreover, customer equity strongly influences the brand-switching intention behaviour in both countries, and this consequently influences the actual brand-switching behaviour.

This study is important for those firms who have many prospective switchers and Muslim consumers, because it is essential to understand why brand-switching behaviour occurs, and to what extent such firms can discourage such consumers from leaving the brand.

This is the first paper of its kind to examine the brand-switching behaviour of millennial Muslim consumers in two different cultures.

The purpose of this qualitative comparative study was to explore the brand-switching behavior of Muslim consumers in selected cities from Pakistan and Malaysia.

Data were collected through interviews which were conducted with 30 participants including universities (5), shopping malls (5) and restaurant locations (5) of each country. The constant comparative analysis was used to analyze the data.

Results revealed that a demonstration of awareness of American brands, their image and perceived quality causes Muslim consumers to switch away from American brands to non-American brands. In addition, this study also showed that the certain reasons compel consumers to stay with American brands.

The findings are helpful for American brands in reconsidering their strategies while segmenting the Muslim consumers as target market.

This is the first paper of its kind to explore Muslim consumer brand-switching behavior by using a qualitative method.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual model for smartphone brand switching behavior, based on the consumption value theory (functional value, emotional value, social value and epistemic value) and the cognition affect behavior (CAB) model. Two paths – product consumption values and retail service relational benefits – were considered as the cognitive elements to predict brand commitment (affect) and smartphone brand switching behavior. In addition, switching cost was used to measure the moderating effect on the relationship between brand commitment and smartphone brand switching behavior.

This research examined whether product consumption value and cognitive benefits related to retail services will enhance brand commitment and then further decrease smartphone brand switching behavior. Switching cost was predicted as a moderator in the model. An investigation of consumers who own a particular brand of smartphone (e.g. the top five smartphone brands: Samsung, Apple, HTC, Sony and Asus) was conducted, and 565 valid responses were collected for the structural equation modeling analysis.

The results demonstrated that emotional value, social value, epistemic value and confidence benefits increased consumer brand commitment and predicted less smartphone brand switching behavior. In addition, switching cost played a significant moderator role in the relationship between brand commitment and brand switching behavior.

A multiple cognitive paths design, with a consumption values aspect and a relational benefits aspect, can elaborate consumer perceptions of product values and service benefits simultaneously, which can lead to a better understanding of the whole picture of the brand services and the key reasons why consumers commit to a brand. Administrators of brand vendors are suggested to improve product innovation and the professionalism of sales services in order to facilitate consumer consumption values, increase their degree of confidence in members of sales staff and, in the meantime, help these administrators gain an understanding of the real reasons for brand switching so as to provide solutions leading to the maintenance of consumer brand commitment through products or services. This is, in turn, likely to increase continued usage intention and reduce the possibility of brand switching.

This study extended the consumption value theory and the CAB model to show that product consumption value and cognitive benefits related to retail services can enhance brand commitment and further decrease smartphone brand switching behavior. The results indicated that brand retailer managers should regularly conduct activities to connect with their customers to induce consumption values and relational benefits and, consequently, increase brand commitment and prevent customer switching behavior.

Although researchers have investigated thoroughly the consumer’s brand switching behaviour, the probability of confusion regarding “brand switching” is a less travelled road so far. Therefore, the purpose of current study is to investigate and highlight the underlying convincing parameters in relation to not switching from American brands within the context of millennial Muslim consumers in Pakistan and Malaysia.

Data were collected from 704 consumers living in two divergent cultures, who were asked about American brands. Two categories of “reasons to stay” were examined: switching barriers and affirmatory factors.

The main discovery was that staying reasons for specific brands could be different in two different cultures, but they influence the ultimate brand switching behaviour.

This study is important for those firms who have many prospective switchers because it is important to understand why these customers stay and discover to what extent such firms can discourage such consumers from leaving, in both positive and negative ways.

This is the first paper of its kind that examines the brand switching behaviour of millennial Muslim consumers.

The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that underpin consumer switching intention in the smartphone industry. Most of the literature on brand switching uses conventional models that lack the ability to explain this behavior for high-technology products. Such products have unique characteristics that make the switching process more challenging from the consumer perspective.

The proposed model is built based on the related theories that consider the distinctive aspects of high-technology products. Furthermore, two variables “relative advantage of product features” and “company innovativeness” are introduced for the first time to evaluate consumer attitude to switch a high-technology product. The smartphone industry was selected to test the proposed model, where an online survey was sent to Apple and Samsung users.

The results confirm the expectation that perceived product usefulness, perceived ease of use and relative advantage of product features are the major factors driving the intention of users to switch, whereas subjective norms have limited impact. The financial cost of switching is the main barrier to consumers’ decision to switch to a new technology. The pleasure consumers feel toward their brand and the other brand is positively associated with their attitude toward switching.

This research contributes to the literature on brand switching by introducing a comprehensive model that explains consumer switching behavior of high-technology products. Research findings would allow managers to draft better marketing strategies to improve consumer brand awareness.

The majority of literature on brand switching uses simple models to explain consumer behavior. This study is the first attempt to build a comprehensive model that considers the characteristics of high-technology products and how they shape consumer behavior during the decision-making process.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the structural relationships among skepticism, experiential risk, cognitive dissonance, experiential quality, brand experience and experiential satisfaction, switching intentions and switching behavior from the perspective of green branding.

A questionnaire survey was used to collect data from consumers who had purchased environmental shampoos, obtaining 613 valid samples which were analyzed with structural equation modeling.

The results indicate that green brand experiential risk, green brand cognitive dissonance, green brand experiential quality and green brand experience influence green brand experiential satisfaction. In addition, green brand experiential satisfaction has an impact on green brand switching intentions, which, in turn, positively influence green brand switching behavior.

To decrease the perceptions of green brand skepticism, green brand experiential risk, green brand cognitive dissonance, green brand switching intentions and green brand switching behavior and increase the perceptions of green brand experiential quality, green brand experience and green brand experiential satisfaction, the findings will help environmental organizations develop and implement market-orientated product strategies.

The results provide a better understanding of the relationships among skepticism, experiential risk, cognitive dissonance, experiential quality, brand experience, experiential satisfaction, switching intentions and switching behavior in an environmental context.

The aim of this paper is to explore the historical development of brands and the development of literature on brand switching to define the antecedents that cause switching behavior among consumers and the impact of switching on market share of companies.

The historical development of brands is tracked using different secondary sources. Then an intensive literature review is conducted on brand switching at the consumer and business levels. At each level, studies on brand switching are divided into several categories, such as household products, technological products and service providers, and the common factors behind switching for each category and between categories are determined.

An examination of the historical development of brands shows that brands appeared on products a long time ago and evolved through a number of stages based on the economic and social environment. The literature reveals that no single model can explain brand switching behavior of consumers or businesses across different industries and products. Each study uses a specific set of factors to explain brand switching. However, brand attractiveness can be counted as the most common factor behind brand switching.

There is little understanding of the historical mutations of brand switching behavior and the influence of mutation on branding strategies. The study suggests that continuous exploration of consumer’s preferences is needed to create and sustain attractive brands.

Managers increasingly recognize brands as one of the most valuable assets of an organization, and, therefore, an informed knowledge of the factors underpinning brand switching may help managers build attractive brands and prevent brand switching. This condition imposes significant challenges in a highly innovative environment, where technological changes can quickly make attractive brands obsolete.

This paper highlights that the factors behind brand switching should be monitored constantly, even for the same brand, to define an appropriate strategy that helps sustain brand attractiveness.

This paper aims to examine the antecedents of customer inertia (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs) and their relationship to customer satisfaction, service providers’ switching intentions and actual switching behavior. Customer inertia is said to reduce the incidence of service provider switching; however, little is known about the antecedent drivers of inertia.

The conceptual model was tested by a longitudinal/discontinuous panel design using an online survey research of 1055 adult (i.e. +18 years old) subscribers to cell phone services. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was used to simultaneously estimate both the measurement and structural components of the model to determine the nature of the relationships between the variables.

Findings of the PLS structural model provide support for the direct relationship between customer inertia and its antecedents (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs). The results show that customer inertia has a moderate negative effect on the intention to change service providers but had no measurable effect on the actual behavior of changing service providers, other than indirectly, by influencing the perception of difficulty in switching some 11 months later. Further results from an analysis of indirect pathways of the antecedents to inertia show that switching costs are the only variable which indirectly reduce intentions to change service providers. The results also show that the effect of satisfaction on switching service providers is partially moderated by inertia. Importantly, these relationships are reasonably robust given past switching behavior and contract status of consumers.

The authors find evidence which explains some of the causes of inertia, and show that it has both direct and moderating effects on service provider switching intentions, though not necessarily the behavior of changing service providers. However, support was found for its indirect role through intent as an influence on switching behavior. Importantly, the authors find that inertia has lingering effects, in that it influences the perception of switching difficulties and, hence, behavior up to 11 months in the future.

Managerial implications are that service firms can profit from customer inertia through a reduction in churn. However, high levels of customer inertia over the longer term may increase the level of customer vulnerability to competitor offers and marketing activities, as satisfaction with the provider does not in itself explain switching intentions or behavior.

This study is the first study to contribute to an understanding of the antecedent drivers of customer inertia with respect to service provider switching and to empirically evaluate a variety of antecedent factors that potentially affect switching intentions. Importantly, the long lasting latent effect of inertia in indirectly influencing service switching behavior was found to persist some 11 months later.