Study of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of Mobile Phone Service Providers in Kolkata

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2008 33: 28Management and Labour StudiesShibashish Chakraborty and Kalyan Sengupta

of Customers of Mobile Phone Service Providers in KolkataStudy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching

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Study of Relationship of Demographic Factors withBrand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of

Mobile Phone Service Providers in Kolkata

Shibashish Chakraborty tKalyan Sengupta t

Mobile phone service providers must understand the relationship betweendemographic profiles of their customers and brand choice of their existingservice providers. It is important for mobile phone service providers toexplore the relationship between demographic factors and brand switchingof customers. This article endeavors to make a detailed study onimportant demographic variables of customers affecting brand switchingof customers. This study will highlight pertinent aspects of prediction ofswitching proclivity of customers from one service provider to another.

We thank Dr Ramaprosad Bondyopadhaya, Professor, MathematicsDepartment, Jadavpur University, Kolkata and Dr Dilip KumarChakraborty, Teacher-in-charge, Netajinagar Day College, Kolkata for theirvalued comments on this article.

Introduction

Telecommunications services have beengoing through a massive expansion forpast two decades allover the world.There has been record increase of fixedsubscribers worldwide from 524 millionto more than one billion during theperiod 1990 to 2004 (Kenny, Keremane2007). Mobile phones leap frogged evenmore drastically during this period.Kenny at al (2003) reported thatworldwide mobile subscribers increasedfrom eleven million in 1990 to 1.7 billionin 2004. In another survey of mobile

phones, Mingers and Simkhada (2002)suggested that more than 95 percent ofrural Indian could have access to atelephone in their village. In the entiresouth-east Asia, the figure was 83 percent.

As a result of this growth, we haveobserved multiple mobile serviceproviders moved into the business tocompete for the market. In majority ofthe countries there are more mobileproviders than fixed phone providers.

The market of mobile carriers in mostof the countries is often constrained by

t Shibashish Chakraborty is a Faculty Member at the ICFAI Business School, Kolkata.

t Kalyan Sengupta is a Faculty Member at the ICFAI Business School, Kolkata.

MANAGEMENT AND LABOUR STUDIES Vol. 33 No.1, February, 2008

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Stutfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone SenJice Providers in Kolkata

policies and regulations of the nationalgovernment. Therefore, creating amarket differential becomes a greatchallenge to the service providers. Pricedifferentials by means of various schemeshappen to be the only option to theprovider, although there are risks ofschemes to be copied and followed bycompetitors that cannot be ignored.

Brand choice, satisfaction and loyalty thushave become a burning ques tion to themobile phone service providers. Thepaper aims to explore various factors,pertinent to demographic factors, whichhave an influence on choice and loyaltytowards a service provider.

Literature Review

The concept of brand choice has beenexplained as a brand chosen by thecustomer (Lilien, G.L., Kotler, P. andMoorthy, K.S., 2003). To someresearchers, the consumer chooses abrand depending directly on the capacityof satisfaction the brand holds for theconsumer (Alvarez, B.A. and Casielles,R.V., 2005). Also from past experiences,quality, price, etc are the major reasons forconsumers' brand choice (Keller, K.L.,2003). Brand promotions companies mayas well help the consumers to decide thechoice of brand, which in turn helpscompanies in achieving their objectives(Alvarez, B.A., and Casielles, R.v., 2005).Another important factor for theconsumers is the price observed at themoment of purchase which was found asa fundamental variable and essentialmatter of study by a number of past

MANAGEMENT AND LABOUR STUDIES

researchers (Winer, 1985; Lattin andBacklin, 1989; Kalwani and Yim, 1992;Mayhew and Winer, 1992; Briesch et. al,1996; Mazumdar and Pupatla, 2000;Alvarez, B.A. and Casielles, R.V:, 2005).

Furthermore, consumers' behaviour, bothpsychological and demographic, plays animportant role in brand choice. Hence itis essential for companies to have theknowledge about the same (Voss andSeiders, 2003). A study conducted byBanerjee, 2004 on an empirical model ofdetergent choice in Mumbai suggests thatbrand choice is a function of marketingmix, psychometric variables andDemographic variables. Interestingly, arecent study of Finnish consumersrevealed that demographic factors have animportant influence on the mobile phonechoice. (Karjaluoto et al, 2005).

Research carried out by Teo et al, 2004indicated that early adopters of newtechnology are young, well educated arerich, compared to non adopters. Theirstudy also revealed that males are morelikely to be adopters of new technologycompared to females. A study conductedby Shin and Kim, 2007 examinedwhether customer switching intentionsdiffer with respect to customerdemographics. It was already found thatyoung mobile users use mobile services inorder to satisfy their social, leisure needs,reinforce group identity and to add valueto their lifestyle (Caroll, J. et. al, 2002).These researchers also found thatconsumers who are more educated viewmobile devices as both life styles relatedtools as well as task oriented technologies.

Vol. 33 No.1, February, 2008



Stutfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

This attitudinal shift might influencecustomer's switching intention. Studieshave indicated that female customersexperience higher levels of anxietycompared to male customers in usingtechnologies (Brosnan and Davidson,1996). Research conducted by Gilbert et.al, 2003 indicate that women tend toexhibit more technophobia. This anxietymay discourage women from switchingfrom one brand to another. In thisrespect a recent study conducted byRanganathan et. al, 2006 confirmed malesare more prone to switching mobilephone service providers, and that age isnegatively· linked to switching. Incorroboration with previous studies thepresent paper deals with relationshipbetween demographic factors, brandchoice and switching of customers ofmobile phone service providers.

Objectives

The objective of the paper is to study theinfluence of various demographicparameters on choice and switching ofdifferent brands of mobile phone serviceproviders in the Indian context. Thedetails of the objectives are listed below:

1. Study of relationship betweendemographic factors and brandchoice of customers of mobilephone service providers.

2. Study of relationship betweenchange of service provider anddemographic factors of customersof mobile phone service providers.

3. Study of relationship betweenpattern of usage of present brand


and previous brand of mobilephone service providers.

4. Study of relationship between usageof present brand and switching oftheir customers from one serviceprovider to another servrce

provide~.

5. Study of relationship betweenchange of service provider andlength of usage by consumers ofmobile phone service providers.

6. To examine the impact of pertinentdemographic variable on switchingintentions of consumers of mobilephone service providers.

Scope of the Research

India is one of the fastest growingmarkets for mobile phone serviceproviders of the twenty first century. Themobile penetration in developingcountries is dependent on the economicdevelopment of these nations. India isconsidered as one of the best performingeconomies in the last five years and theIndian economy is growing at the rate of8 percent per year. The National TargetPlan is to have a 250 million subscriberbase by Decerpber 2007 (DOT AnnualReport 2006-2007). The number ofwireless phones (GSM and CDMA at theend of December 2006 was 149.6 million(DOT Annual Report 2006-2007). Thetele density at the end of December 2006was 16.83% (DOT Annual Report 2006-2007). The Indian Government hasopened the telecom sector and hasencouraged foreign players to have anequity participation - 74 percent from the




Stlltfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Cllstomers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kaieata

earlier 49 percent. It will encourageforeign players to operate in India. Themobile phones have become an integralpart of daily lives of urban consumers ofIndia. The growth driver of mobilephone service providers is urbanizationwith increasing income of consumers. Inthe last few years the use of mobilephones has increased to a great extent.Apart from its importance it has alsobecome a mode of fashion to the newgeneration of urban consumers. Theunprecedented growth of the mobilephone service industry is due to the tariffreduction - compared to tariff rates in1994 hence it is affordable for consumers.Mobile phone service providers play amajor role in satisfying needs of mobilephone customers. It is important formobile phone service providers tounderstand their customers' needs wants, ,attitudes and behaviour intentions towardsmobile services which are innovative(N ohria and Leetsma, 2002; Barnes,2002). It may be noted that for serviceproviders to unders tand variousparameters which affect choice of brandand the relationship betweendemographics and switching intentions ofconsumers of mobile phone serviceproviders from one brand to anotherbrand. In this paper, we try tounderstand the influence of demographicfactors for the choice and switching ofconsumers of mobile phone serviceproviders.


Methodology

1. A pretest was conducted before thepilot study using face to faceinterview on a representative set of25 respondents. Feedback wasobtained from the respondentspertinent to question ambiguity andcontent validity of the questionsused in the pilot survey. In theexperiment, the sampling frame wasthe telephone directory of the cityof Kolkata, where telephonenumbers of all the fixed line phonesare recorded in alphabetical order.The sampling procedure used forthe purpose was simple randomsampling and 2500 persons werepicked from the directory by usinga random number table. All thesepeople were contacted over thephone and were asked whether anymember of the family use a mobilephone. In the course of theexperiment, 1776 contacts hadresponses but only 1127 were foundto possess mobile phones. Out ofthe 1127 families, where mostlymultiple mobile phones wereavailable in the families, a person ineach of the family was picked uprandomly for the ques tionnaireinterview. Only 761 respondentsagreed to take part in the interview.Finally 295 respondents were able tofill in the questionnaire throughhome survey and this was the sizeof the sample. The questionnaireswere collected after the respondentsfilled them and there were nomissing values. The data was




Sturfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

collected from students, servicepersonnel, businessmen,professionals, unemployed andretired persons. The study wasconducted from 4th March 2007 tois- June 2007.

2. We used the Chi square test ofassociation to find out therelationship between brand choiceand demographic factors andbetween switching anddemographic factors. The variablesmentioned above are qualitativevariables. Defining qualitativevariables over a population amountsto classifying. the items in thepopulation according to twodifferent criteria. The test discussedhere investigates whether arelationship exists between twovariables and whether the variablesare statically independent For the last,test of hypotheses, we have used ttest for equality for mean, as thesample taken from the populationis approxima tely normallydistributed and the population'sstandard deviation is unknown.

3. Logis tic regression is used as amethod to find out which of thefactors identified in the switchingintention were significant withrespect to predicting switchingintentions. The logistic regressionuses binary data as dependentvariable and gives an estimate ofmodel coefficients which can beused to quantify the probability ofsubsidence. Discriminant analysis was


not used as it relies on strictlymeeting the assumptions ofmultivariate normality and equalvariance-covariance matrices acrossgroups, the assumptions are not metin many situations (Hair et. al, 1998).Logistic regression does not facethese strict assumptions and is muchmore robust when theseassumptions are not met, making itsapplications appropriate in moresituations (Hair et. a1, 1998). Logisticregression analysis was considered tobe an appropriate type of analysisas the dependent variable has onlytwo values (Yes = 1, No = 0) andthe model predicts future behavior.

4. Correspondence Analysis (CA) wasused to show the relative positionof brands with respect to variousdemographic factors. CA is anexploratory multivariate techniquewhich converts frequency tables intographic representation in whichrows and columns are depicted aspoints. We have constructed a mapof these points so that higherproportions associated with thevarious levels of rows and columnsare close together on the graph. Italso compares row and columnproportions in a two way ormultivariate table. It decomposesthe Chi square measure ofassociation of the table intocomponents which is similar toprincipal component analysis forcontinuous data (Greenacre, M.J,1984, 1989).





Hypotheses Formulation

Based on the research insights in theliterature review, the following researchhypotheses can be developed in thecontext of the study of mobile phoneservice providers:

Brand choice is dependent ongender of customers.

b) HA

Brand choice is dependent onage group of customers.

c) HA

Brand choice is dependent onmonthly income ofcustomers.

d) HA Brand choice is dependent onoccupation of customers.

e) HA

Change of service provider isdependent on occupation ofCustomers.

f) HA

Change of service provider isdependent on age ofcustomers.

g) H A Change of service provider isdependent on gender ofcustomers.

h) HA: Change of service provider isdependent on monthlyincome of customers.

~ HA

Usage of present brand isdependent on usage ofprevious brand of mobilephone service provider.

j) HA

: Usage of present brand isdependent of switching ofcustomers.


k) HA

: Change of service providerdepends on the length ofusage by consumers ofservices of mobile phoneservice providers.

Data Analysis

We have used Chi square test using SPSS14.0 to prove the hypothesis given below:

a) Ho: Brand choice is independent ofgender of customers.H

A: Brand choice is dependent on

gender of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical variables. Four brandswere considered in our experiment.At a level of significance of 0.10,we found p = 0.327 (Table 1),which means p > 0.10. Hence wecannot reject the null hypotheses.Brand choice is proved to beindependent of gender ofcustomers.

b) Ho: Brand choice is independent ofage group of customers.H

A: Brand choice is dependent on

age group of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Four brands and fiveage groups were considered in ourexperiment. At a level ofsignificance of 0.10, we found p =0.081 (Table 2), which means p <0.10. Hence we reject the nullhypotheses. Brand choice is

dependent on age groups ofcustomers.




Stutfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Seroice Providers in Kolkata

c) Ho: Brand choice is independent ofmonthly income of customers.H\: Brand choice is dependent onmonthly income of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Four brands and fivemonthly Income slabs wereconsidered in our experiment. At alevel of significance of 0.10, wefound p = 0.075 (Table 3), whichmeans p < 0.10. Hence we rejectthe null hypotheses. Brand choice isdependent on monthly income ofcustomers.

d) Ho: Brand choice is independent ofoccupation of customers.H\: Brand choice is dependent onoccupation of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Four brands and sixoccupations of customers wereconsidered in our experiment. At alevel of significance of 0.10, wefound p = 0.098 (Table 4), whichmeans p < 0.10. Hence we rejectthe null hypotheses. Brand choice isdependent on occupation ofcustomers.

e) Ho: Change of service provider isindependent of occupation ofcustomers.H\: Change of service provider is

dependent on occupation ofcustomers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Six occupations ofcustomers were considered in our


experiment. At a level ofsignificance of 0.10, we found p =0.007 (Table 5), which means p <0.10. Hence we reject the nullhypotheses. Change of serviceprovider is dependen t onoccupation of customers.

f) Ho: Change of service provider isindependent of age of customers.H\: Change of service provider is

dependent on age of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Five age groupswere considered in our experiment.At a level of significance of 0.10,we found p = 0.002 (Table 6),which means p < 0.10. Hence wereject the null hypotheses. Changeof service provider is dependenton age of customers.

g) Ho: Change of service provider isindependent of gender ofcustomers.H

A: Change of service provider is

dependent on gender of customers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. The categoricalvariables for gender are Male andFemale. At a level of significance of0.10, we found p =0.048 (Table 7),which means p < 0.10. Hence wereject the null hypotheses. Changeof service provider is dependenton gender of customers.

h) Ho: Change of service provider isindependent of monthly income ofcustomers.





H o: Usage of present brand isindependent of switching ofcustomers.

HA

: Change of service provider isdependent of monthly income ofcustomers.

H o: Usage of present brand isindependent of usage of previousbrand of mobile phone serviceproviders.H

A: Usage of present brand is

dependent of usage of previousbrand of mobile phone serviceprovider.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical variables. Four brandswere considered in our experiment.At a level of significance of 0.10,we found p = 0.000 (Table 9),which means p < 0.10. Hence wereject the null hypotheses. Usage ofpresent brand is dependent of usageof previous brand of mobilephone service providers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical variables. Four brandswere considered in our experiment.

At a level of significance of 0.10,we found p = 0.015 (Table 10),which means p < 0.10. Hence wereject the null hypotheses. Usage ofpresent brand is dependent ofswitching of customers

In this case we have used t test forequality for mean. In the nullhypotheses the length of usage ofmean period by consumers ofservices of mobile phone serviceproviders who do not change theirservice providers is the same as thelength of usage of mean period byconsumers of service of mobilephone service providers who changetheir service providers. At a level ofsignificance of 0.10, we found p =0.295 (Table 11), p> 0.10 whenequal variances are assumed and p= 0.286 (Table 11), p> 0.10 whenequal variances are not assumed.Hence we do not reject the nullhypothesis. Change of serviceprovider does not depend on the

HA

: Change of service providerdepends on the length of usage byconsumers of services of mobilephone service providers.

We have used t-Test using SPSS 14.0 toprove the hypotheses given below:

k) Ho: Change of service providerdoes not depend on the length ofusage by consumers of services ofmobile phone service providers.

of present brand ison switching of

HA

: Usagedependentcustomers.

In this case both sets of variablesare categorical. Five income groupswere considered in our experiment.We have considered five categoriesof income groups. At a level ofsignificance of 0.10, we found p =0.005 (Table 8), which means p <0.10. Hence we reject the nullhypotheses. Change of serviceprovider is dependent of monthlyincome of customers.

j)




Sturfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkota

length of usage by consumers ofservices of mobile phone serviceproviders.

For the purpose of analysis, we haveused SPSS 14.0 for logisticregression to prove that switchingintensions of mobile phonecustomers is related to demographicvariables.

Table 12 exhibits the results oflogistic regression. The coefficient ofb for age is -0.519 which indicatesage is negatively related to switchingintension and the variable isstatistically significant. The variablesnot included in the. equationobtained by stepwise logisticregression indicate that the variablesgender, occupation and monthlyincome are not included in theequation. These variables are notstatistically significant as p> 0.05(Refer Table 12). The Hosmer andLemeshow Goodness of fit testindicates a significant fit (c 2= 5.806P = 0.055). The logistic regressionalso presented an odds ratio of0.595 for the variable age, whichindicated that probability ofswitching increases with a decreasein the age group of the customers.

STATISTICA 6.0 was used forCorrespondence Analysis. Results ofCorrespondence Analysis (refer toFigure A) indicate that the twodimensions explain 97.16% of theinertia/variability in the data. Anexamination of the perceptual map

-------:-::=-::-=:---00

created by Correspondence Analysissuggests that horizontal dimensionrepresenting age group explaining87.88% of inertia and verticaldimension representing brandexplaining 9.28% of the inertia.Consumers in the age group 21-30years prefer to use Airtel. BSNL isthe most preferred brand in the agegroup 51-60 years. Hutch is the

.most preferred brand in the agegroup 41-50 years followed byReliance. Reliance is the mostpreferred brand in the age group31-40 years, followed by Hutch.

Results of Correspondence Analysis(refer to Figure B) indicate that thetwo dimensions explain 86.05% ofthe inertia/variability in the data. Anexamination of the perceptual mapcreated by Correspondence Analysissuggests that horizontal dimensionrepresenting occupation explaining63.74% of inertia and verticaldimension representing brandexplaining 22.31% of the inertia.Airtel is the most preferred brandamong students. Hutch is the mostpreferred brand amongprofessionals followed byconsumers who are in service.Reliance is the most preferred brandamong consumers who are inbusiness followed by Hutch. BSNLis the most preferred brand amongconsumers who are retired andconsumers who are not employed.

An examination of the perceptualmap created by Correspondence




Sturfy of &Iationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

Analysis (refer Figure C) suggeststhat consumers in the age group 21-30 years are prone to switchingproviders followed by 31-40 years.Customers in the age group 41-60years are less prone to switching.

Managerial Implications of ChiSquare Tests

income of Rs.3000 and belowmosdy use BSNL and Airtel (referTable 3). Customers havingmonthly income in the slab betweenRs.3001 and Rs.10000 mostly useBSNL .(refer Table 3). Hutch is themost preferred brand amongcustomers having income of morethan Rs.20000.

a)

b)

Chi square test for dependencysuggests that brand choice isindependent of gender ofcus tomers. I t may be a clue tomobile phone service providers tounderstand consumer buyingbehavior of both male and femalecustomers as it may help companiesto understand their needs forinformation search, criteria forevaluation of alternative offersoffered by mobile phone serviceproviders and influence of theirpeer group or referent group in thedecision making process. Hutch isthe most preferred brand for menand BSNL is the most preferredbrand for women (refer Table 1).

Chi square test for dependencysuggests that brand choice isdependent on monthly income ofcustomers. Thus another base forsegmentation may be monthlyincome of customers. It wasobserved by earlier researchers tointroduce price point segmentationwhere different price bands wouldrepresent various segments(Chakraborty and Chakraborty,2006). Customers having monthly

c)

d)

Chi square for dependency suggeststhat brand choice is dependent onage group of customers. It may berecommended to service providersto understand activities, interests andopinions of customers of differentage groups as it will help mobilephone service providers to segmenttheir markets and to position theirservices for different segments(Chakraborty and Chakraborty,2006). Airtel is the most preferredbrand in the age group 21-30 years,Reliance is the most preferred brandin the age group 31-40 years.Hutch is the most preferred brandin the age group 41-50 years.BSNL is the most preferred brandin the age group 51-60 years (referTable 2).

Chi square test for dependencysuggests that brand choice isdependent on occupation ofcustomers. It is recommended tomobile phone service providers tounderstand specific needs ofdifferent segment of customerswhich would enable them to offerdifferentiated services to specificoccupational groups. Reliance is the




Stlltfy of &Iaiionship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of CHstomers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

most preferred brand amongcustomers who are in business.Hutch is the most preferred brandamong customers who areprofessionals and Airtel is the mostpreferred brand among the students(refer Table 4).

e) Chi square tes t for dependencysuggests that change of serviceprovider is dependent onoccupation of customers. Thesegment of students continuouslyseek change in their serviceproviders (refer Table 5). It maybe suggested to mobile phoneservice providers to offer servicesto students at affordable prices andreward them by designing anexclusive loyalty program forstudents which may help in retainingstudents as they exhibit highswitching tendency.

t) Chi square test for dependencysuggests that change of serviceproviders is dependent on agegroup of customers. The switchingtendency of customers is dominantin the age group 21-30 yearsfollowed by 31-40 years (refer Table6). Service provider.s may offerservices which are economical andaffordable in these age groups whichwill help them to retain youngcustomers.

g) Chi square test for dependencysuggests that change of serviceproviders depend on monthlyincome of customers. The


switching tendency of customers isdominant in the monthly income ofslab of Rs.3000 and below (referTable 8), followed by customershaving monthly income in the rangeof Rs.3001-5000. It is suggested tomobile phone service providers tooffer loyalty cards and award annualbonus points based on usage whichcan be redeemed after six monthsor one year· from thecommencement of the loyaltyprogram. It may help companies toretain low income group ofcustomers. Customers with highincome also exhibit tendency ofswitching from one service providerto another (refer Table 8). It isrecommended to service providersto differentiate offers to thesesegments of customers. Additionalservices like MMS, SMS, GPRS,caller identification, detailed billing,roaming facility, voice mail may beoffered to these groups ofcustomers.

h) Chi square test for dependencysuggests that change of serviceproviders depends on gender ofcustomers. Women customersexhibit less switching intention fromone service provider to anotherservice provider (refer Table 7). Itis recommended to serviceproviders to find out pertinentreasons which results men shiftingfrom one provider to another.

~ Chi square test for dependencysuggests that usage of present brandis dependent on usage of previous

Vol. 33 No.1. February, 2008



Stutfy oj fulationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching oj Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

brand mobile phone serviceproviders. Service providers mayensure good voice quality, ability toconnect to other networks which isa part of technical quality assuggested by Gronroos (1994). Ifcustomers do not find anydifference in technical quality, theymay switch to current provider asthey were not satisfied with thefunctional quality pertinent to servicedelivery of previous provider. It issuggested to service providers tohave an effective customer retentionprogram which will help them toretain their customers. Reliance andHutch have lost maximum numberof customers to Airtel (refer Table9).

D Chi square test for dependencysuggests that usage of present brandis dependent on switching ofcustomers. It is suggested to mobilephone service providers to find outpertinent reasons which consumersconsider important for switching toother providers Customers ofH~tch exhibit high loyalty followedby customer of BSNL (refer Table10).

Managerial Implications of t Test

k) t test for equality of mean suggestthat change of service providerdoes not dependent on the lengthof usage of mobile phone serviceof service providers. As the lengthof usage increases, the consumeradoption process also increases. It is


recommended to service providerto analyze their customers in termsof maturity of usage of theservices offered by serviceproviders. Service providers mustoffer additional services like SMS,MMS, GPRS, caller identification,roaming facility, voice mail, 3Gmobile services to matured users.As consumer adoption processincreases, consumers tend to exhibitless technophobia. Maturedcustomers may require different mixof choice of services. It issuggested to mobile phone serviceproviders to maintain a history cardof usage of customers as they mayexpect innovative services fromproviders on a continuous basis. Ifcompanies can' innovate theirservices, it may help them to retaintheir customers.

Managerial Implications of LogisticRegression

Logistic regression suggests that age isnegatively related to switching intentions.Young consumers are more likely toswitch from one of provider to another,hence it appears that the mobile phoneservice providers will have to design aneffective customer retention program forthe age group 21-30 years which will helpthem to retain their market shares.

Managerial Implications ofCorrespondence Analysis

It is suggested to mobile phone serviceproviders to understand aspiration levels




Sturfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kaieata

of different age groups. This may helpthem to retain customers of different agegroups. It is suggested to rewardconsumers based on usage rate andloyalty. Mobile phone service providersmay tie up with brands of othercategories used by different age groups.If customers are awarded bonus pointsbased on usage, it is recommended toredeem these bonus points on repurchaseof services from the current provider orredeem these on purchase of productsof other categories. The bonus pointsmay also be redeemed in the form ofdiscounts offered on products of othercategories. Mobile phone serviceproviders may offer different services todifferent occupations of customers basedon their usage and affordability.

Limitations

Since the fixed line telephone directorywas the sampling frame, all therespondents considered in the survey hada fixed line but there are situations wherecustomer subscribes only to mobilephones. Besides it is necessary to studyother urban centres of India to validatethe results we have obtained for Kolkata.


Conclusion

This study reveals that in the Indiancontext demographic factors ofconsumers do influence brand choice formobile service providers. It is importantfor mobile phone service providers tounderstand the needs of customers ofdifferent demographic profiles in line withVoss and Seiders, and past experiences ofthese customers (as per Keller). This helpsmobile phone service providers to offerpertinent services according toaffordability and needs of varioussegments of customers. The study alsosugges ts that demographic factorsinfluence switching from one serviceprovider to another and customers do notswitch providers depending on length ofusage of service provided by a serviceprovider. In corroboration with theprevious studies conducted by Kim andShim, it is revealed that age is negativelyrelated to switching intention ofcustomers of mobile phone serviceproviders. I t may be recommended toservice providers to understand and trackchanges in demographic profiles,switching behavior and switchingintention of customers on an ongoingbasis as it would help them to offerservices which may satisfy customers 'inthe long run leading to increase in marketshare.

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Stutfy of &Iationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

Cross Tabulation

Table 1: Brand Name - Gender Cross Tabulation

Brand Name Gender Total

Male Female

Airtel 67.3% 32.7% 100.0%

Hutch 76.9% 23.1% 100.0%

BSNL 60.7% 39.3% 100.0%

Reliance 69.0% 31.0% 100.0%

Total 69.8% 30.2% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asymp. Sig.(2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 5.789 3 0.327

Table 2: Brand Name - Customer Age Cross Tabulation

Brand Customer Age TotalName

21-30 yrs 31-40 yrs 41-50 yrs 51-60 vrs 61 vrs - above

Airtel 54.8% 27.9% 8.7% 8.7% 100.0%

Hutch 39.4% 26.9% 18.3% 12.5% 2.9% 100.0%

BSNL 42.9% 21.4% 17.9% 17.9% 100.0%

Reliance 38.1% 31.0% 16.7% 14.3% 100.0%

Total 46.1% 26.8% 14.2% 11.2% 1.7% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests






Stut!Y of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kaleata

Table 3: Brand Name - Monthly Income Cross Tabulation

-Brand Monthly Income TotalName

Below Rs. Rs. 3001 - Rs, 5001 - Rs. 10001 - Rs. 20001 -3000 5000 10000 20000 above

Airtel 46.2% 5.8% 2.9% 23.1% 22.1% 100.0%

Hutch 29.4% 8.8% 9.8% 17.6% 34.3% 100.0%

BSNL 46.4% 3.6% 17.9% 17.9% 14.3% 100.0%

.Reliance 38.1% 2.4% 9.5% 21.4% 28.6% 100.0%

Total 38.8% 6.2% 8.0% 20.3% 26.8% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value dC Asymp. Sig.(2-sided)


Table 4: Brand Name - Occupational Status Cross tabulation

Brand Occupational Status TotalName

SeMce Business Professional Student Notemployecl Retired

Airtel 27.9% 8.7% 9.6% 51.0% 1.9% 1.0% 100.0%

Hutch 30.8% 21.2% 15.4% 28.8% 2.9% 1.0% 100.0%

BSNL 35.7% 10.7% 10.7% 32.1% 7.1% 3.6% 100.0%

Reliance 23.8% 26.2% 7.1% 38.1% 2.4% 2.4% 100.0%

Total 29.1% 16.2% 11.5% 38.8% 2.9% 1.4% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value dC Asymp. Sig.(2-sided)






Table 5: Change your service provider - Occupational Status CrossTabulation

O1angeyour Occupational Status Tola!Service Provider

Savia: BusinelIl Professional Student Not~ Retired

No 70.4 75.6 75.0 50.9 87.5 50.0 64.4

Yes 29.6 24.4 25.0 49.1 12.5 50.0 35.6

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

v.we cf Asymp.~(],.sided)


Table 6: Change your Service Provider - Customer Age Cross Tabulation

OJangeyour Cus1Dmer Age Tola!SeMce Provider

n.llYJS 3l4lYJS 41-5OYJS 51-6lYJS 61ynH1boYe

No 54.0% 64.5% 87.5% 75.8% 66.7% 64.4%

Yes 46.0% 35.5% 12.5% 24.2% '33.3% 35.6%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests







Table 7: Change your Service Provider - Gender Cross Tabulation

Change your Gender TotalService Provider

Male Female

No 60.7% 73.2% 64.4%

Yes 39.3% 26.8% 35.6%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests


Pearson Chi-Square 3.912' 1 0.048

Table 8: Change your Service Provider - Monthly Income Cross Tabulation

O1angeyour Monthly Incane TotalSavice Provider

BebwRs.3IXKI &3OOl-5IXXI Rs.5OO1-1IDXI Rs.1IXXJ1-mx1 Rs.ml1-above

No 52.3% 64.7% 90.9% 67.9% 70.3% 64.1%

Yes 47.7% 35.3% 9.1% 32.1% 29.7% 35.9%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests


Pearson -Chi-Square 14.882 4 0.005





Table 9: Brand Name - Previous Provider Cross Tabulation

Brand Name Previous Provider Total

Airtel Hutch BSNL Reliance

Airtel 69.0% 50.0% 73.3% 46.9%

Hutch 53.6% 25.0% 20.0% 24.5%

BSNL 10.7% 17.2% 6.7% 10.2%

Reliance 35.7% 13.8% 25.0% 18.4%

Total 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asyrnp. Sig.(2-sided)


Table 10: Brand Name - Change your Service Provider Cross Tabulation

Brand Name Change your Service Provider Total

No Yes

Airtel 56.7% 43.3% 100.0%

Hutch 76.0% 24.0% 100.0%

BSNL 64.3% 35.7% 100.0%

Reliance 54.8% 45.2% 100.0%

Total 64.4% 35.6% 100.0%

Chi-Square Tests

Value df Asyrnp. Sig.(2-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 10.432' 3 0.D15




Stutfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkota

Table 11: T -Test Group Statistics

~N Mean S1d. Deviation Sid. Fnot

Mean

How long are No 187 4.70 2.343 0.175you using a Yes 108 5.01 2.191 0.220mobile phone?

Independent Sample Test

Levene's Test forEquality of Variances

F Sig.

How long are you using a Equal variances assumed 2.886 0.090mobile phone? Equal variances not

assumed - -


t-test for Equality of Means

t df Sig. Mean(2-tailed) Difference

How long are you Equal variances -1.050 276 0.295 -0.301using a mobile assumedphone? Equal variances -1.070 214.081 0.286 -0.301

not assumed


t-test for Equality of Means

Std. Error 95% Confidence IntervalDifference of the Difference

Lower Upper

How long are you Equal variances 0.287 -0.866 0.264using a mobile assumedphone? Equal variances 0.281 -0.856 0.253

not assumed

MANAGEMENT AND LABOUR STUDIES Vol. 33 No.1. February, 2008



Stlltfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Cllstomers OJ MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

Table 12: Logistic Regression

Variables in the Equation

Variables Beta S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)

Age -0.519 0.129 16.264 1 0.000 0.595

Constant 0.461 0.259 3.163 1 0.075 t.5~6

Variables not in the Equation

Variables Score df Sig.·

Gender (1) 3.218 1 0.073

Occupation 5.217 5 0.390

Occupation (1) 1.128 1 0.288

Occupation (2) 0.034 1 0.853

Occupation (3) 0.195 1 0.659

Occupation (4) 1.982 1 0.159

Occupation (5) 0.742 1 0.389

Monthly Income 0.206 1 0.650

Overall Statistics 7.724 7 0.358

Hosmer and Lemeshow Test

Step Chi-square df Sig.

1 5.806 2 0.055




Stutfy of &Iationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Providers in Kolkata

Figure A: Positioning Map - Brand vs Age

2D Plot of Rowand Column Coordinates: Dimension: 1 x 2Input Table (Rows x Columns): 4 x 4

Standardization: Rowand Column Proftles

• Row Coords

- Col. Coords

,

I !IBSNL I I1 ..........................j...I _ I

1,.............. .......(L

I i I

i I I51-+0 yrs

Ii , I

+, j ··f~ +

... ................. .... .... .-- ~

II

i I I I II i I ..... J.....................J.jm .......................................................···r······ l

.....

~ 21-30 rs iIAirte • I

I iI !

- I . I

I, ! i-iutcn ! 41- 0 yrs,

: - Ii i Reliancd •

.1; ,I

I-

I 31-4 yrsI II i

n i • I iI

,I II

i i!

I iI

5 I i I-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4

0.15

0.00

-0.1

-0.1

~b 0.10coNe~ 0.05

~

0.20

1~-.....o

Nc::

.~5

.5c

Q.j

1&-0.0

Dimension 1: Eigenvalue: .03100 (87.88% of Inertia)




Sturfy of R8lationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of MobilePhone Service Provitkrs in Kolkata

Figure B: Positioning Map - Brand vs Occupation

2D Plot of Rowand Column Coordinates: Dimension: 1 x 2Input Table (Rows x Columns): 4 x 4

Standardization: Rowand Column Profiles

-+I

!Reli~n1e

I i III I i • Row CoordsI

-0.3 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 • Col. Coords

Bu iness

•

-0.5 -0'.4

................... _ ~ .

I

0.4

0.3

0.2

-0.2 -/-----1---+----+--=-+---+--+---+--+---+

-0.3

........ 0.5

.f!...ILl

..5""'o'if.-.....&'000,....-q

N

.~5.5c

Dimension 1: Eigenvalue: .05104 (63.74% of Inertia)




Stutfy of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of Mobile'Phone Service Providers in Kolkata

Figure C: Positioning Map - Age Group vs Brand Switching

lD Plot of Rowand Column Coordinates for Dimension:Input Table (Rows x Columns): 4 x 2

Standardization: Rowand Column ProfilesEigenvalue: 07331 (100.00% of Inertia) Contribution to Chi-square: 21.260

0.5

0.4

0.3

0.2...::l

~ 0.1

s 0.0os

~ -0.1...8u -0.2

-0.3

-0.4

-0.5

-0.6.

-0.7

•• ,_ •• •• •••••••• H •••••• ...~ .....

Yes•

21-30 yrs....... ..................... ...... ..... Jlt.

31-40 yrs............ .................................

No

51-60 yrs •..................... ................. •

41-1;0 UN

•

Row Coordinates


Column Coordinates




Stlltfy of Relationship of Demographic Eaaors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Clistomers of Mobil,Phon, S,mc, Providers in Kolkata

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Study of Relationship of Demographic Factors with Brand Choice and Brand Switching of Customers of Mobile Phone Service Providers in Kolkata