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Global mobile communication is one of the most dynamic and important service markets. Several researchers suggest using a theoretical approach to develop a much deeper insight into key marketing constructs such as service quality, customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, perceived switching costs, corporate image, and customer loyalty is of vital importance to the mobile communications market. This study aims to develop and test a comprehensive hierarchical model of these six important constructs. The model also incorporates the retailing function of a major mobile communication provider.

The research sample of 516 was drawn from customers of one of the largest mobile communications service providers in China. The data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.

The results of the study support using a hierarchical and multidimensional approach for conceptualising and measuring customers' perceptions of service quality in the mobile communications market. In addition, the findings illustrate that service quality is an important determinant of customer perceived value, customer satisfaction, corporate image, and perceived switching costs. Customer perceived value is also an antecedent of customer satisfaction. Corporate image, customer satisfaction, and perceived switching costs are three key drivers of customer loyalty. However, the findings also indicate that corporate image is not an important determinant of customer satisfaction and that customer perceived value is not a key driver of customer loyalty.

This is the first paper that has developed and tested a comprehensive hierarchical model of the mobile communications market.

In order to understand the influence of technology innovation on market demand diffusion in the ICT service market, the purpose of this paper is to examine technology innovation in the mobile product market, which keeps a complementary relationship with the mobile communication market.

This study collected mobile communication user information of four leading countries in the ICT market – the USA, the UK, Korea, and Japan from 1981 to 2014. This study applies the Bass diffusion model to analyze the form of market demand diffusion and conducts white noise test to verify the hypotheses.

Technology innovation of mobile communication leads to an increase in innovation effect and a decrease in imitation effect. Thus, technology innovation of mobile communication needs to be promoted continuously for the purpose of increasing adopters in the early stage. Besides, mobile product’s technology innovation leads to an increase in imitation effect and a decrease in innovation effect, because individuals were aware of the usefulness of the products and services. Hence, the increase in the number of imitators caused a higher increase in imitation effect than in the mobile communication’s innovation effect.

Based on the results of this study, the role that product and service technology innovation plays in renewing the form of market demand diffusion in the ICT service market was defined. Also, since the strategies and plans to acquire competitive advantage of business were understood, it may help both companies and policy decision makers.

The purpose of this paper is to study consumers' adoption of mobile communications services, and to explore common denominators uniting those most likely to be early adopters; thereby, to help practitioners to predict early adoption and segment the market.

Data were collected by postal questionnaire from 26 per cent of a sample of 3,000 customers of a telecommunications service provider in Finland, stratified into three sub‐samples according to type of usage. For this paper, the returns from the two sub‐samples with the highest rates of use were analysed.

Previous experience of related types of communications services significantly and positively influenced adoption of new mobile services. Certain of the respondents' demographic characteristics were also closely associated with early adoption.

Further studies are required before the findings can be applied beyond Scandinavia. Qualitative research could enhance understanding of the roles of personal innovativeness and income, in particular, in adoption of mobile communications services.

Mobile communications service providers in Scandinavia now have a tested basis for identification of early adopters, segmentation of the market, and targeting of marketing campaigns.

The study tested theoretical constructs used widely in other fields, and identified adjustments required for transfer to the mobile communications service context.

This paper aims to explain the applications of sensor-based communication in mobile marketing and how understanding its fast growth is important for marketers.

The paper draws from various examples used by companies in India and abroad to explain the phenomenon of sensor-based communication in mobile marketing.

Marketers should be aware of the different ways in which sensor-based communication can be used to build and sustain customer engagement.

The different typologies of applications of sensor-based communication, along with examples, will help the marketers to develop similar initiatives for their brands/products.

This is the first paper to illustrate, explain and exhort the usage of sensor-based communication in the Indian context.

The aim of this paper is to explore the price plans offered by Thai mobile operators and analyse the role of demand characteristics in the development of new price plans. The paper also shows how demand affects a firm's degree of innovativeness in terms of the number of new price plans.

The empirical qualitative analysis is based on an original data set from several secondary data sources and includes all the price plans offered in the history of the Thai mobile communications market between 2002 and 2010.

The results show that mobile operators have introduced several innovative price plans to attract and retain their consumers. Although a greater number of price plans can increase competition among operators, some have complex combinations that may lead to confusion for consumers.

A price comparison programme should therefore be implemented by the telecom regulator to ensure that consumers receive correct and complete information about the price plans.

Most studies, by far, have not extensively discussed this mobile communications market in detail and the effect of innovation on competition between firms in the mobile communications industry, in particular the development of innovation in developing countries.

As the repercussions of 3G licensing reverberate across the telecommunications industry, it has frequently been speculated that the European mobile communications industry is about to consolidate around a handful of players. However, many of these speculative comments fail to take into account either the scale of the players concerned or how they have acquired licences in the past. In this paper, we establish licence ownerships patterns, identifying in the process 13 multiple licence owners that collectively own 161 of the 225 second and third generation licences that have been offered to date across Europe. The multiple licence owners are then categorised by their scale and geographical focus, demonstrating in the process the considerable variation that occurs in both of these areas.

The purpose of this paper is to examine factors affecting consumers' acceptance of mobile marketing in China.

The authors draw on technology acceptance and uses and gratifications theories to develop a conceptual model of antecedent factors (including risk acceptance related to the mobile platform and personal attachment related to mobile devices) and marketing‐related and value‐based mobile activity related to the acceptance of mobile marketing practice. The conceptual model is tested using data collected among Chinese youth consumers.

The results confirm the importance of risk acceptance and personal attachment in influencing mobile marketing acceptance, and support the “priming” effect of regular mobile phone usage on orienting consumers toward accepting mobile marketing initiatives.

The study is limited to a specific sample of youth consumers in China. The findings illustrate the role of antecedent factors – including personal attachment and risk acceptance – related to acceptance of mobile marketing in the Chinese market and they emphasize the role of marketing‐related and value‐based mobile activity in mediating the relationships between antecedent factors and mobile marketing acceptance.

The findings illustrate the importance of recognizing the drivers of, and obstacles to, mobile marketing acceptance. These factors included the likelihood of providing information, likelihood of accessing content, likelihood of sharing content, level of risk acceptance, and level of personal attachment to one's mobile phone.

The paper adds to the growing literature on Chinese youth consumers by examining their acceptance of mobile marketing. The study reveals several implications for theory and practice relating to the antecedents of mobile marketing acceptance among the youth consumer segment within China, a large and emerging market.

The purpose of this paper is to explain the determinant factors of switching behavior in the Thai cellular market before the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) policy is implemented.

A binary logit model and individual survey data from the National Telecommunications Commission 2009 are used to estimate the intention of mobile phone consumers to switch.

The results show that subscriber characteristics, including age, government officer, self‐employed, internet use, central region, and southern region, are significant in explaining the switching behavior of Thai mobile subscribers. They also indicate that the mobile operators' customers are confronted with different switching costs. The subscribers of the largest mobile operator have the highest switching costs. This study also shows that the largest mobile operators will gain more switching subscribers than smaller operators. The implementation of MNP will help to lower the switching costs of smaller mobile operators rather than of larger operators, as the subscribers of smaller operators are more likely to switch and move to larger mobile operators, as the larger operators provide better quality network coverage. The study shows that the expected impact of implementing MNP without national mobile roaming regulations would be worse for smaller mobile operators. The smaller operators need to compete on both price and quality improvement. In the short run, it would not be possible for the smaller operators to compete with the larger operators due to the inequality in the quality of network coverage.

The result is useful to developing countries considering implementing MNP regulation.

The purpose of this study is twofold. First, in order to guarantee a coherent discussion about mobile customer relationship management (mCRM), this paper presents a conceptualization of mCRM delineating its unique characteristics. Second, the authors develop the empirically grounded framework of the underlying issues in the initiation of mCRM.

A single‐case‐study method is used for the empirical component of the study in order to gain a holistic view of the case and access to latent and confidential information of the company under scrutiny. Semi‐structured interviews of the key informants of the company form the main data source through which the issues are identified and the proposed framework is built.

The proposed framework identifies issues that can be divided into three categories (exogenous, endogenous and mCRM‐specific) the company has to take into account when moving towards mCRM.

Since, this is a single‐case study the findings cannot be generalized and used in other contexts without reservation.

When planning to initiate mCRM, the illustrated framework includes all the vital issues that should be considered and serves as a preliminary guideline from which to approach mobile CRM.

This paper shed light on the emerging phenomenon known as mCRM.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate that text message mobile coupons are marketing communications that are becoming more service‐like in nature. As such, mobile coupons will benefit from firm‐generated service customization strategies.

An experiment compared a mobile coupon with a customized versus non‐customized delivery time. A sample of 244 undergraduate students from a large southeastern US university completed an online questionnaire. The between‐subject design randomly assigned participants to the custom or non‐custom condition. Results were assessed with MANCOVA.

Customizing the delivery time of a mobile coupon improved attitude toward and intention to use the coupon, as well as attitude toward and purchase intent with the firm.

The paper focuses on only one mobile coupon campaign in one product category, while measuring attitudes and intentions, not actual purchase behavior. The sample is also limited by having student participants. Future research should examine these limitations.

The paper provides practitioners with an alternative view of mobile coupons. Whereas traditional paper coupons are mass marketing communications, mobile coupons should be viewed similar to an important service to consumers. Allowing consumers to customize these communications, similar to how consumers customize important service offerings, will enhance the coupon and image of the firm.

This study is the first to suggest that mobile coupons be guided by services marketing theory. This is also the first study to suggest and empirically assess the customization of marketing communications as a firm‐generated strategy designed to enhance mobile coupons. Customization in this context is a co‐production activity.