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1 – 10 of over 1000Switching 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…
Abstract
Purpose
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.
Design/methodology/approach
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.
Findings
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.
Research limitations/implications
The findings provide important implications for consumers switching brands if they are finding alternative offers that are cost-effective and SEF from service providers
Practical implications
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.
Social implications
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.
Originality/value
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.
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Kebone Agnes Mntande, Beate Stiehler‐Mulder and Mornay Roberts-Lombard
This study aims to explore the loyalty intent of prepaid (contract-free) customers in a market where disloyalty is prevalent and the market has low switching costs.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the loyalty intent of prepaid (contract-free) customers in a market where disloyalty is prevalent and the market has low switching costs.
Design/methodology/approach
A quota, non-probability sampling technique was applied, resulting in the completion of 220 self-administered questionnaires that were used for data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model were applied to determine model fit and test the formulated hypotheses for this study.
Findings
The strength of the satisfaction–loyalty relationship is found to be influenced by three specific satisfaction antecedents, strengthened by the mediating role of customer delight and impacted by switching costs.
Practical implications
The findings of this study may guide mobile service providers in their initiatives to secure satisfaction and loyalty in a market context where switching costs are low and the market is described as disloyal.
Originality/value
This study investigates the well-researched relationship between satisfaction and loyalty and the antecedents of customer satisfaction to determine which of these variables should be the focus in a challenging market where consumers are disloyal and switching costs are low.
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Isabel Sánchez García and Rafael Curras-Perez
The purpose of this paper is to study the drivers of service provider switching intention other than satisfaction and, additionally, analyse the moderating role of the type of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the drivers of service provider switching intention other than satisfaction and, additionally, analyse the moderating role of the type of service (utilitarian vs hedonic). Specifically, the authors study the effects of alternative attractiveness, post-purchase regret, anticipated regret and past switching behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
A representative survey with 800 consumers of mobile phone services (utilitarian) and holiday destinations (hedonic) was carried out.
Findings
Satisfaction is not a significant antecedent of switching intention in the hedonic service and its effect is marginal in the utilitarian service. In the utilitarian service, the main predictor of switching intention is post-purchase regret, whereas in the hedonic service, the main determinants of switching intention are past switching behaviour and anticipated regret.
Originality/value
The main contribution of this study is the analysis of the determinants of provider switching behaviour that may explain abandonment by satisfied customers, to see if their influence is greater or smaller than that of satisfaction itself, which has been the most analysed variable. Furthermore, there are expected to be differences between utilitarian and hedonic services, an aspect which is also studied in this work.
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James Lappeman, Michaela Franco, Victoria Warner and Lara Sierra-Rubia
This study aims to investigate the factors that influence South African customers to potentially switch from one bank to another. Instead of using established models and survey…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the factors that influence South African customers to potentially switch from one bank to another. Instead of using established models and survey techniques, the research measured social media sentiment to measure threats to switch.
Design/methodology/approach
The research involved a 12-month analysis of social media sentiment, specifically customer threats to switch banks (churn). These threats were then analysed for co-occurring themes to provide data on the reasons customers were making these threats. The study used over 1.7 million social media posts and focused on all five major South African retail banks (essentially the entire sector).
Findings
This study concluded that seven factors are most significant in understanding the underlying causes of churn. These are turnaround time, accusations of unethical behaviour, billing or payments, telephonic interactions, branches or stores, fraud or scams and unresponsiveness.
Originality/value
This study is unique in its measurement of unsolicited social media sentiment as opposed to most churn-related research that uses survey- or customer-data-based methods. In addition, this study observed the sentiment of customers from all major retail banks across 12 months. To date, no studies on retail bank churn theory have provided such an extensive perspective. The findings contribute to Susan Keaveney’s churn theory and provide a new measurement of switching threat through social media sentiment analysis.
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Myung-Joong Kim, Juil Kim and Sun-Young Park
This study aims to investigate customers’ churning out of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, one of the most prevalent forms of IT convergence.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate customers’ churning out of Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) service, one of the most prevalent forms of IT convergence.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the review of current literature, a research model is introduced to depict the effects of select independent variables on customer churning behavior. First of all, the two groups are compared in terms of predictor variables, including switching barriers, voice of customer (VOC), membership period and degree of contents usage. Then, a curvilinear regression was applied to understand the association relationship between the level of IPTV contents usage and variables of switching barriers, VOC and membership period. Third, a logit regression was performed to predict customer churning through the variables of switching barriers, VOC, membership period and level of IPTV contents usage.
Findings
Through the empirical analysis, this study analyzed the factors affecting customer churning behavior of IPTV service providers based on switching barriers, VOC and contents usage.
Originality/value
Although several studies on IPTV have been undertaken globally, they have largely depended on self-reporting surveys to examine dynamics between antecedent variables and IPTV performance in terms of customer satisfaction, usage intension and customer retention. This empirical study is performed to understand influential factors of IPTV service defection through the weblog analysis of 3,906 service users, who represented both service defectors and non-defectors during a specific month.
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Abstract
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Cristina Calvo-Porral and Luis-Miguel Otero-Prada
Mobile services are expanding rapidly, and in this tremendously dynamic environment, companies should provide value-added services to meet users’ demand. In this context, the…
Abstract
Purpose
Mobile services are expanding rapidly, and in this tremendously dynamic environment, companies should provide value-added services to meet users’ demand. In this context, the study aims to determine whether different user groups exist in this market and profile them.
Methodology
Based on the information of 568 mobile service users, a research was developed in the context of a mature mobile services market – Spain. A behavior-based cluster analysis is developed by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), followed by two-step clustering. Then, an ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests are conducted to confirm differences among the obtained clusters.
Findings
The study findings show that mobile service users cannot be perceived as a homogenous group, as different users with different behaviors coexist in this market. More specifically, four behavior-based segments emerge in the mobile service sector: “service connoisseurs,” “uninvolved pragmatics,” “potential switchers” and “delighted loyal”; “potential switchers” being the most challenging segment for mobile service companies.
Value
This study reports mobile service users’ heterogeneity; and in turn, mobile service managers should consider customers as four different types, instead of considering them as one single customer.
Propósito
Los servicios móviles se están expandiendo rápidamente y en este entorno tremendamente dinámico, las compañías de servicios móviles deberían de proporcionar servicios de valor añadido para satisfacer la demanda de sus usuarios. En este contexto, esta investigación tiene como objetivo determinar si existen diferentes grupo de usuarios en este mercado y aportar su pefil.
Metodología
Sobre la base de información de 568 usuarios de servicios móviles se lleva a cabo una investigación en el contexto de un mercado de servicios móviles maduro –España-. Se lleva a cabo un análisis clúster basado en el comportamiento de los usuarios, mediante un análisis factorial confirmatorio (CFA), seguido de un análisis clúster bi-etápico. A continuación, se realizan un test Anova y un test pos hoc de Tuckey para confirmar las diferencias entre los grupos obtenidos.
Resultados
Los resultados de la investigación muestran que los usuarios de servicios móviles no pueden ser percibidos como un grupo homogéneo, ya que en este mercado coexisten diferentes usuarios con diferentes comportamientos. Más específicamente, cuatro segmentos de usuarios surgen en el sector de los servicios móviles basados en su comportamiento: “conocedores del servicio”, “pragmáticos no involucrados”, “potenciales cambiadores de servicio” y “leales encantados”, siendo “potenciales cambiadores de servicio” los que presentan un mayor desafío las empresas de servicios móviles.
Valor
Este estudio muestra la heterogeneidad de los usuarios de servicios móviles, y por tanto, los gestores de los servicios móviles deben considerar a sus clientes como cuatro tipos diferentes, en lugar de considerarlos como un único tipo de cliente.
研究目的
移动服务正在迅速扩张,在这个巨大的动态环境中,企业应该提供增值服务来满足用户的需求。在此背景下,本研究旨在确定该市场是否存在不同的用户群体,并对其进行分析。
研究方法
基于568名移动服务用户的信息,在一个成熟的移动服务市场(西班牙)的背景下开展了本次研究。通过确认性因子分析(CFA)进行基于行为的聚类分析,然后进行两步聚类。最后,方差分析和事后Tukey检验被用于确认获得的聚类之间的差异。
研究结果
研究结果表明,移动服务用户不能被看作是一个同质的群体,因为在这个市场上共存着不同的用户,他们具有不同的行为。具体来说,移动服务领域可以划分为基于用户行为的四个细分市场:"服务行家"、"不参与的实用主义者"、"潜在的转换者 "和 "愉悦的忠诚者";其中,"潜在的转换者 "是对移动服务企业来说最具挑战性的细分市场。
研究价值
本研究报告了移动服务用户的异质性;反过来,移动服务管理者应该考虑把客户划分为四种不同的类型,而不是将他们视为一个单一的整体。
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The adoption of social media has been extensively discussed. However, to explain the adoption of traditional social media, considering the benefits and risks accumulated from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The adoption of social media has been extensively discussed. However, to explain the adoption of traditional social media, considering the benefits and risks accumulated from the experiences of social media use, the extent literature is limited. Thus, this paper investigated the act of traditional social media users’ switching behavior from a dynamic perspective and the level of information privacy concerns and social media privacy to measure the risks and benefit accumulated from this dynamic process.
Design/methodology/approach
This study of Facebook and Twitter users, who are regarded as representative of traditional social media, are selected as research targets surveyed and were required to answer a specially designed questionnaire in order to determine their general feeling on social media platforms they currently use. As a part of this process, quota sampling was used to collect different samples based on gender and age. In this paper, t-test, one-way ANOVA and multiple comparisons were used for the statistical analysis, conducted through SPSS.
Findings
Information privacy concerns and social media dependency affect the adoption of social media. Secondly, social media dependency is a more salient determinant for social media adoption. Therefore, social media firms should pay more attention to enhancing user dependency of social media by increasing user involvement of social media.
Originality/value
This study intends to conduct a research design that provides an overall and holistic understanding of user usage experience. To do this, it investigates the intensity of switching behavior through the level of dependency and the level of information privacy concern that users inevitably exhibit through the use of social media over long time.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the effect of customer experience management (virtual interaction, physical interaction and service interaction) on customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and evaluate the effect of customer experience management (virtual interaction, physical interaction and service interaction) on customer loyalty in the banking industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The study followed an explanatory research design to sample 384 respondents. Stepwise regression analysis was used to validate the relevance of the study model.
Findings
The results indicated that there is a positive association between customer experience management and customer loyalty. The dimensions of customer experience management, namely virtual interaction, physical interaction and service interaction, were also found to be statistically significant in explaining customer loyalty behaviour.
Practical implications
The study practically influences the way banks and other financial institutions gain competitive advantage through managing the experiences of customers in a volatile business environment. At a time when banks are no longer the only providers of financial services, the study offers a road map to reduce portfolio purchasing and switching behaviour through enhanced experience management at all customer touch points.
Originality/value
The study presents an augmented model of customer experience management which is linked to consumer loyalty.
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The purpose of this study is two-fold. First is to explore the role of some customer personality traits in explaining customer satisfaction in mobile services. Second is to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is two-fold. First is to explore the role of some customer personality traits in explaining customer satisfaction in mobile services. Second is to explore the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty of mobile services customers, mediated by attitude-to-brand considering the fierce competition and the fast industry growth.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a cross-sectional design and a survey of mobile service customers. For the empirical analysis, the structural equation models were applied (partial least squares).
Findings
The results suggest that customers who are agreeable, neurotic and open to new experience are more likely to be satisfied with mobile services than other personality types. In addition, the satisfaction-loyalty link is fully mediated by attitude-to-brand. Hence, satisfaction is not a direct driver of loyalty in the mobile services business and loyalty is achieved when service providers simultaneously focussed on the customers’ satisfaction and their attitudes towards brands.
Practical implications
The study identified the personality trait drivers of customer satisfaction and the path to customer loyalty in the mobile services sector. With this information, mobile service providers should be better able to target and retain customers.
Originality/value
The study offers new insights into customer behaviour by using personality traits to identify requirements for achieving customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and attitude-to-brand.
Propósito
El propósito de este estudio es doble. Primero, explorar el papel de algunos rasgos de personalidad del cliente para explicar su satisfacción en los servicios móviles. Segundo, explorar la relación entre la satisfacción y la lealtad de los clientes de servicios móviles, mediada por la actitud hacia la marca considerando la feroz competencia y el rápido crecimiento de la industria.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
El estudio utilizó un diseño transversal y una encuesta de clientes de servicios móviles. Para el análisis empírico se utilizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (PLS)
Hallazgos
Los resultados sugieren que los clientes agradables, neuróticos y abiertos a nuevas experiencias tienen más probabilidades de estar satisfechos con los servicios móviles que otros tipos de clientes. Además, el vínculo satisfacción-lealtad está mediado por la actitud hacia la marca. Por lo tanto, la satisfacción no es un precursor directo de la lealtad en servicios móviles. La lealtad se logra cuando el proveedor de servicios se centra simultáneamente en la satisfacción del cliente y cuida la actitud hacia la marca.
Implicaciones prácticas
El estudio identificó los rasgos de personalidad de los clientes que llevan a la satisfacción y el camino hacia la lealtad del cliente en el sector de los servicios móviles. Con esta información, los proveedores de servicios de telefonía móvil deberían estar mejor capacitados para dirigirse a los clientes y retenerlos.
Originalidad/valor
El estudio ofrece nuevas perspectivas sobre el comportamiento del cliente al utilizar los rasgos de la personalidad para identificar los requisitos que permiten lograr la satisfacción del cliente, su lealtad y mejorar la actitud hacia la marca.
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