FINAL RESEARCH PROJECT SYNOPSIS

ON

CUSTOMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR IN WIRELESS TELECOM

SERVICES INDUSTRY

SUBMITTED TO SUBMITTED BY

Dr. S K TYAGI MAULIK JAIN

106/2018
 INTRODUCTION

India is currently the second largest telecommunication market with a subscriber base of 1.2
billion as of March 2019 according to a report by TRAI. According to IBEF, number of internet
subscribers in India is expected to reach 829 million (around double of 439 million as of march
2019) by 2021 growing at a CAGR of 30%.According to TRAI, in terms of number of wireless
subscribers as on 30th June 2019, 90% market share is held by private players(33% being the
highest held by Vodafone Idea) and the remaining 10% is held by PSUs. In such a growing and
booming sector, immense profitability opportunities lies ahead of competing companies in the
sector namely Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. But the sector faces the heat when
it comes to switching service providers. One of the prime reasons of such behavior is low
switching costs in the telecom sector for customers. Also a sector like telecom where
competition is so intense, retaining customers in such a competitive environment is of prime
importance for marketers more than acquiring new ones which involve huge costs in terms of
promotions etc. Thus, it becomes important and relevant to identify and understand the potential
reasons leading to the switching behavior in the sector.

In the sector, switching turnover is measured in terms of Mobile number portability (MNP).
MNP is a service by which a customer can change telecom operator without changing their
mobile numbers. In recent times, the sector is experiencing a significant rise in the number of
requests for MNP. According to TRAI, 4.34 million requests were received for MNP in the
month of June alone. Importance of brand switching cannot be underestimated simply because it
has dual relevance as loss of customer to one service provider is gain to the other. Thus it is
important to determine the factors which influence switching behavior so that companies can
study them and retain their existing customers.

Also significant importance needs to be given to check whether demographic and psychographic
variables have an impact on switching behavior and no concrete research has been done on this.
This research is limited to demographic variables including age, gender and income and
relationship between demographics and switching behavior will be analyzed in the study.

The above research background and introduction lay the foundation for the research objectives
which have been mentioned below.
 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

 To identify factors which influence switching behavior of customers in the wireless

telecom services industry
 To study relationship between demographic variables(age, gender and income) and
likeliness to switch to other telecom service provider

HYPOTHESIS
H1- Age
Null Hypothesis- There is no relationship between age and likeliness to switch
telecom service provider

Alternate Hypothesis- There is relationship between age and likeliness to switch

telecom service provider

H2- Gender
Null Hypothesis- There is no relationship between gender and likeliness to switch
telecom service provider

Alternate Hypothesis- There is relationship between gender and likeliness to switch

telecom service provider

H3- Income
Null Hypothesis- There is no relationship between income and likeliness to switch
telecom service provider

Alternate Hypothesis- There is relationship between income and likeliness to switch

telecom service provider
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

TYPE OF RESEARCH
A blend of qualitative and quantitative research will be undertaken. Using secondary sources and
depth interviews(qualitative), factors that influence switching behavior will be determined which
will be followed by quantitative research to validate and conclude that which ones out of the
identified variables are actually influencing switching behavior.

DATA COLLECTION METHOD

Data will been collected through survey method using a structured questionnaire and secondary
sources like TRAI and DOT.

POPULATION UNIVERSE
People of delhi who use wireless telecom services

SAMPLING FRAME
List of people who use wireless telecom services in delhi

SAMPLING UNIT
People within 20-50 age bracket who use telecom services in delhi

SAMPLING ELEMENT
Individual respondents who will be selected using random sampling

SAMPLING METHOD
Responses will be collected through convenience method of non probabilistic sampling in which
probability of being selected as a sample is unknown. Thus reducing the chances for sampling
bias.
SAMPLE SIZE
Sample size has been calculated using the formula

Where,

n is the sample size

sigma is the population standard deviation of the Variable

ε is the Tolerable error

Z highlights z score at the desired confidence level

SAMPLE SIZE CALCULATION

Sigma = Range / 6

Range = (5-1) = 4( as scale is likert)

Thus S = 4/6 = 0.67

Tolerable error = 0.1

Confidence level = 95%

Z value at 95% confidence level= 1.96

Sample size= (1.96*0.67/.1) ^2 = 172

MEASUREMENT AND SCALING

Likert scale will be used which is an itemized rating scale under non-comparative scaling. Likert
is a widely used scale due to its applications.

METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS

Data gathered through questionnaire will be analysed in SPSS. For analyzing factors influencing
switching behavior ANOVA will be used and to study relationship between demographic
variables and switching behavior, Chi square tests will be the method of data analysis.

REFERENCES

Drew F and Tirole J (2000), “Customer Poaching and Brand Switching”, J. Eco.,
Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 634-657

Mazursky D, LaBarbera P and Aiello A (1987), “When Consumers Switch Brands”,

Psychology and Marketing, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 17-30.

Ibok, N. and Etuk, G.S. (2015) Brand Identity and Customer Loyalty: Evidence from the Nigeria
Telecommunication Industry. International Journal of Manageria l St udies and Research , 3, 1-8.

Burnham, Thomas A., Judy K. Frels, and Vijay Mahajan (2003), “Consumer Switching Costs: A
Typology, Antecedents, and Consequences,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 31
(March), 109–126.

Van Trijp, Hans C.M., Wayne D. Hoyer, and J. Jeffrey Inman (1996), “Why Switch? Product
Category-Level Explanation for True Variety-Seeking Behavior,” Journal of Marketing
Research, 33 (August), 281–92

Keaveney, Susan M. (1995), “Customer Switching Behavior in Service Industries: An

Exploratory Study,” Journal of Marketing, 59 (April), 71–82