Influence of Service Quality on Mobile Telecommunications Service Providers Selection

revolution has truly changed the socio-economic landscape of Zimbabwe and has seen the industry grow rapidly, that is keeping pace with global advancements in the mobile telecommunication market.

The year 1997 marked a new era in the Zimbabwe telecommunication sector as it marked the beginning of deregulation of the telecommunications sector, which was previously a monopoly. The Posts and Telecommunications Corporation (PTC) which was wholly owned by the Government; did not have any competition and thus it flourished as the sole fixed line provider. According to Melody (1999) technological change and new service opportunities are factors bearing on the telecom reform process everywhere. In 1996, technological advancement saw the birth of NetOne, the first cellular network operator in Zimbabwe, a subsidiary under the PTC.

However, in 1998 things started to change dramatically when the first major new player, Econet Wireless entered the telecommunications market. The deregulation of the telecommunications sector opened the market from a monopolistic market to a competitive multiple service providers. Currently, there are three mobile service providers in Zimbabwe, which are Econet Wireless, Telecel and NetOne, and the competitive pressure is high. The three MSPs compete with each other to grab customers by proving a wide range of both basic services and value added services.

The customers enjoy the option of choices among the service operators and thus the competitive environment causes brand consciousness among the subscribers and potential buyers (Melody, 2003). In order to survive the competitive environment, the service providers must ensure network quality, customer acquisition and retention. Table 1 shows the detail of the mobile subscribers in Zimbabwe, that depicts the market share of the MSPs.

2. 1Purpose of study The purpose of the study was to evaluate factors that determine the selection of mobile service providers.

Also to evaluate and understand the consumers buying behaviour in selecting service providers and to help service providers to design more appealing marketing programs which deliver better customer value and thus providing the required returns. 2. 2Significance of study The robust competition between the three mobile network operators in Zimbabwe has intensified. Therefore, identifying and understanding the factors which considerably influence the customer buying behaviour is of greatest importance to the marketers.

Thus, the key success factors in mobile telecommunication battles are effectiveness of marketing strategies and understanding of consumer behaviour. The determinant factors for customers choice of the MSP in Zimbabwe is not clear as there is insufficient documentation on the issue. Therefore, there is a need to empirically evaluate and analyze the phenomenon for managerial implications. The outcome of the study would provide insights to service providers to take profound actions towards enriching customers’ service experience.

Moreover, the study also builds on existing consumer behaviour literature by exploring the factors influencing consumer buying behaviour that ultimately influence the selection of mobile service providers. In addition, the findings of the study will also assist telecommunication companies to invest their resources more efficiently, or to make changes to crucial quality attributes that bring out consumers’ satisfaction levels. The overall objective is to ascertain the logic behind customers’ selection of a particular mobile service operator.

The purpose of descriptive research is to observe, describe and document aspects of a situation as it naturally occurs. They further state that the descriptive research

involves the collection of data that will provide an account or description of individuals, groups or situations. The research instruments that were used for this study were questionnaires with closed questions.  Population selected for this study were all Bulawayo residents who are customers of any of the three mobile service providers available in Zimbabwe which is unknown. Lewis and Thornhill (2003) state that it is not easy to assess the entire population, therefore, it is necessary to assess a sample of the population as an alternative in order to generalize about the entire population. The researcher will target the Bulawayo residents who visit the National University of Science and Technology Campus along Gwanda Road and Cecil Avenue. The sample size used for the research was 100 respondents and a non-probability sampling technique was used. The convenience sampling method was used to select the targeted sample.

According to convenience sapling is a statistical method of drawing representative data by selecting people because of the ease of their volunteering or selecting units because of their availability or easy access. The researcher used this method to get easy access to information from walk in customers at the Main Administration Building (NUST Campus). Time and cost constraints also justified the convenience sampling technique.  Secondary data is the data which is collected for some other purposes or the data which is gathered by previous researchers.

The research was involved in a desk research were information about the background of the telecommunications industry was acquired. The researcher also used articles, books and the internet to gather more information about the factors that influence the purchasing behaviour of mobile service

provider. The data acquired aided the researcher in the analysis of data as a toll for deriving in reliable and relevant conclusions. In this research primary data was obtained by collecting data from uestionnaires which were administered at the Main Administration Building at the NUST Campus to the target sample size. The researcher issued the respondents the questionnaire and gave the at most fifteen minutes to fill in the questionnaire. There are many tools available for gathering empirical data but it depends upon research question and purpose of study that which tool is used for study. For this study, the researcher used the questionnaire because it is less time consuming, and provides good quality data easily.

The questionnaire is the medium of communication between researcher and respondent. The researcher used close ended questions because of the quantitative nature of the study. The researcher chose the questionnaire because it is considered to be inexpensive, less time consuming and provide good quality data easily (Babbie, 2010). The questionnaire was drafted with the aim of answering the research question and research objectives. The questionnaire consisted of closed-ended questions as they were quicker and easier to answer and readily accessible to coding and quantitative analysis.

The questionnaires consisted of five categories and items on different constructs are organised in each category namely; service quality, price, promotions, availability and social factors. The questionnaires were personally handed to the respondents as they were entering the Main Administration Building. Gravetter and Forzano (2009) state that the validity of a research study is the degree to which the study accurately answers the question it was intended to answer.

According to

Babbie (2010), the reliability of a research instrument is the degree of consistency with which the instrument measures the attributes it is supposed to be measuring. Validity and reliability were not measured for this report.

The findings in Figure 2 reveal that a total of 7% of the respondents disagreed, 36% were unsure and 57% agreed that it is important to subscribe to the same service provider with family members and friends. Additionally, 30% of the respondents disagreed, 10% were unsure while 60% agreed to value friends, colleagues and family members’ opinions before buying any product from the service provider. On the other hand, 95% of the participants disagreed, 1% were unsure and 4% agreed that high profile customers of a particular service provider influence them to choose a mobile service provider.

Frequency Responses for Service Quality Dimensions Fig. 3: Frequencies for Service Quality Dimensions Figure 3 reveal that 8% of the participants disagreed, 10% were unsure, 82% agreed that reliability of service influence their choice of the mobile service provider. Moreover, the figure show that 2% of the respondents disagreed, 0% were unsure and 98% agreed that network capabilities of a service provider influence their subscription to a mobile service operator.

It is evident that customer’s choice of mobile service provider is significantly influenced by network coverage. It also reflects that 5% of the respondents disagreed, 7% were unsure and 88% agreed that network innovativeness is an important factor that they consider when subscribing to a mobile service provider. Likewise, the results reveal that 18% of the respondents disagreed, 3% were unsure, and 79% agreed that customer care at the service

provider outlets influence them to choose a mobile service provider.

Frequency Responses for Price Fig 4: Frequencies for Price Findings in Figure 4 illustrate that 15% of the participants disagreed, 2% were unsure, 83% agreed that low rate charges influence them to subscribe to a mobile service provider. Frequency responses to Promotional Mix Fig 5: Frequencies to promotional mix The findings in Figure 5 reveal that the results shows that 63% of the respondents disagreed, 3% were unsure, and 34% agreed that advertisement influences them to subscribe to a mobile service provider.

These finding revealed that, the majority of the customers indicated that advertisement does not influence their choice of mobile service provider, thus advertisement was insignificant. Additionally, the findings shows that 17% of the respondents disagreed, 11% were unsure and 72% agreed that offers such as SIM card offered with initial balance influences their selection of a service provider. Similarly, Figure 5 reveal that 13% of the participants disagreed, 2% were unsure and 85% agreed that free calls and free SMS encourage them to subscribe to a mobile service provider.

The findings show that free calls and free SMS significantly determine customers’ choice of mobile network. Frequency Responses from Service Availability Aspects Fig 6: Frequencies from Service Availability Aspects The data in Figure 6 reveals that 37% of the respondent’s disagreed, 30% were unsure, 32% agreed to value visually appealing physical facilities than customer care. Likewise, it illustrates that 11% of the participants disagreed, 10% were unsure and 79% agreed that accessibility of services influence their preference for mobile service provider.