FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS

After the analysis of primary data it is pertinent to interpret the analysis and bring out the

relevant findings in order to evolve suitable suggestions for the formulation of effective

sales promotion practices by the mobile phone service providers for both public and

private companies operating in India. The main findings and suggestions are discussed in

this chapter.

6.1 Findings

 The detail analysis of collected data reveals that the mobile phone service

providers from time to time adopt different sales promotion practices to retain

their existing service users such as full and extra talktime, top-up, STV vouchers,

Christmas and New Year offer, other festival offers, special discounts, data share

plan, GPRS setting etc.

 It is clear from the analysis that the different sales promotion practices such as

unique pricing mechanism (second pulse rate) and unique basket of different

services as for mobile service users help the service provider to attract new

service users towards their services.

 The analysis of the data reveals that the mobile phone service users/subscribers

are giving preferences towards particular service providers keeping in mind their

quality of services, networking, pricing policy, grievance handling mechanism

and customer oriented policies.

 The analysis of primary data reveals that brand image of the mobile phone service

providers plays very important role in increasing the subscriber base of mobile

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phone service providers (as in case of BSNL, Vodafone and Airtel) but we should

not forget that the use of latest technology by service provider in some cases do

not support this statement.

 The analysis of data reveals that effectiveness of particular sales promotion

practices is not permanent in nature. As soon as any new offer (practice) more

beneficial for service users compel them to rethink about change of service

provider as their existing mobile number is retained due to mobile number

portability.

 The analysis of secondary data reveals that the public sector BSNL market share

shows a declining trend while private sector indicated an increasing trend in

market share.

 The secondary data regarding internet and wireless broadband reveals that there is

significant-increase in the subscriber of private service providers while in case of

BSNL there was only a marginal increase (1.15%).

 The secondary information regarding the number of subscriber reveals that there

was an increasing trend among the sample private operator while in case of public

sector there was a decaling number of subscriber. The decaling number of

subscriber was 2.03% from 2012 to 2016.

 Regarding the demographic profile of the respondents, the collected data reveals

that the percentages of male subscribers of mobile phone are more than the female

subscribers in the entire sample region.

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 Regarding the age of the mobile phone users, the data reveals that the users are

between age of 18 to 35 years (57.83%) and only 6.12% are of above 65 years of

age.

 With regard to the level of education the collected data analysis indicates that

majority of respondents (59%) were having graduation and Post-Graduation

qualification.

 In respect of the occupational pattern of the respondents the collected data

indicates that 34.43% respondents were students and 22.9% were government

employee and only 20% were employed in private sector.

 The analysis further indicates that in the entire sample region the majority of

respondents were government employee, private sector employees and students.

 Monthly income does not play any important role in use of mobile phone services.

Respondents having less monthly income are spending on mobile phone services.

 In respect to the mobile services used by the respondents the collected data shows

majority of users are using GSM services (87.84%).

 Regarding mobile technology used by the respondents the collected data indicates

that majority of subscribers are using 2G Technology (58.89%) and only 32.89%

are using 3G technology.

 Regarding the type of mobile connection used by the subscribers, the collected

data indicates that majority of subscribers (85.26%) were having prepaid

connection in the sample region.

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 In respect of the purpose of using mobile connection the collected data reveals

that 47.73% respondents used mobile services for personal use and 38.74%

respondents are using mobile connection for both personal and professional-

purposes.

 Regarding the number of connection used by the respondents the collected data

indicates that 56.24% respondents had two connections from different service

provider while 30.8% had only one connection from service provider.

 In the entire sample region it was observed that 69.16% respondents are having

more than two connections while only 3.85% had four service provider

connections.

 The primary data regarding the use of connection reveals that 60.29% respondents

used the connection for call and messages and the rest for internet and

networking.

 Regarding the application of secondary connection the collected data indicates

that above 62.37% respondents used the secondary connection for internet and

social networking.

 The collected data regarding the number of years using mobile services indicates

majority of users are using the services for last 5 to 15 years.

 In respect of first mobile service provider the collected data reveals that 30.39%

respondents had BSNL as first service provider while 19% provider had

Vodafone and 13.83% has Airtel as their first service provider.

 In respect to the present service provider the collected data reveals that 19.36%

respondents had Vodafone and 17.19% respondents had Airtel connection the

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analysis further reveals that in all the sample division 20% or more respondents

has Vodafone connection followed by Airtel the contribution of other service

provider is less than 16%.

 In order to see the effectiveness of sales promotion practices in respect to the

mobile phone service provider the collected data indicates that 62.8% respondents

were using the present mobile service for less than 12 months while 32%

subscribers were using the mobile services between 1-5 years. This shift was

mainly due to the effective sales promotion practices adopted by the various

mobile phone service providers.

 In context of the average months by expenditure analysis reveals that majority of

respondents spent between rupees 100-500 per month for mobile phone services.

 Regarding the factors which motivates the consumers in purchasing the new

mobile connection the primary data indicates that 45.16% respondents of Telenor

were of view that the promotion offers were the basic considerations for

purchasing the new connection, while for 45.55% BSNL responded the call

facility provided by the service provider motivated them for purchasing the new

connection. 27.28% respondents of Vodafone were of the view that services

quality was the basic consideration that stimulated them for purchasing the new

mobile connection.

 Regarding the profile of service provider the collected data reveals that majority

of the respondents in the sample area were retailers.

 The collected data indicates that majority of respondents retailers were located in

urban area (49.09%) and only 23.64% were in rural area, while in case of urban

centre 27.38% were located in central area.

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 Regarding the duration of business the collected data reveals that 30%

respondents had been in business- between 5 to 10 years, 20.8% between 3 to 5

years and only 10.9% were in business for less than one year.

 Regarding the dominance of service provider it is necessary to analyze the major

leader of sample companies. The primary data indicates that 82% off the sample

respondents were of the opinion that BSNL, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone had a

lion share in the market.

 Regarding Grievance handling mechanism of the sample mobile phone service

provider companies, 67% respondents indicated that the sample service providers

fail to redress the grievance/ complaints of the customer.

 Regarding the shift in service with respect to the value added service 84% of the

respondents indicated that they are satisfied with value added services of the

mobile phone service providers.

6.2 Findings of Comparative Analysis of Selected Mobile Phone Service Providers

In order to study the effectiveness of sales promotion practices adopted by the sample

mobile service providers, it is pertinent to analyze the comparative analysis of sales

promotion practices adopted by them. The collected data is analyzed by certain

parameters viz quality of services, promotional offers, pricing policy, product range,

brand image, advertisement, celebrity endorsement and grievance handling mechanism

adopted by the service providers.

6.2.1 Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)

 The Quality of services include call quality, call clarity and geographical coverage

The collected data indicates that 40.79% of respondents in the sample region

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were satisfied, 31.27% were moderately satisfied while 6.25% respondents were

highly dissatisfied. The collected data reveals that in the entire sample region the

satisfaction in quality of services was around 35.25%.

 In respect of promotional offers offered by BSNL the collected data reveals that

37.5% respondents were satisfied and 21.53% were moderately satisfied with the

promotional offers offered by BSNL in the entire sample region.

 Regarding the pricing policy adopted by BSNL the collected data indicates that

36.11% respondents of sample region were moderately satisfied while 21.19%

were satisfied by the pricing policy of BSNL in the entire sample region.

 In respect of product range the analysis reveals that 31.21% respondents were

satisfied by the product range offered by BSNL while 21.17% are moderately

satisfied. It is relevant to observe that 23.61% of sample region were dissatisfied

with product range in sample region.

 In case of brand image created by BSNL the collected data indicates that 45.51%

of the subscribers were satisfied while 20.83% were moderately satisfied. It is

pertinent to indicate that the satisfaction level regarding the brand image of BSNL

is above the mean score in sample division except in Region C where it is only

3.43%.

 Regarding the advertisement offered by the service provider the collected data

reflects that 31.25% respondents were satisfied by the advertisement offered by

BSNL, while 30.56% were moderately satisfied.

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 In respect of celebrity endorsement which is an important factor for sales

promotion practices the collected data indicates that 37.51% respondents were

moderately satisfied while only 7.64% respondents were highly satisfied with

BSNL.

 With regard to the grievance handling mechanism managed by BSNL the

collected data indicate that 28.43% respondents were moderately satisfied while

46.53% respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the grievance handling

mechanism.

From the above, it can be concluded that in case of BSNL the public sector undertaking

providing mobile services, the sales promotion practices were effective as the majority of

sample respondents indicated satisfaction by the services offered by the company while

the Grievance handling mechanism showed dissatisfaction among the subscriber. The

effectiveness of factor like brand image, celebrity endorsement, advertisement and

promotional offers was effective in satisfying the subscriber in the entire sample region.

6.2.2 Vodafone

 Regarding the quality of service provided by the Vodafone the collected data

indicates that 31.00% respondents were moderately satisfied while 20.34% were

highly dissatisfied.

 In context of promotional offers offered by the Vodafone 34.20% respondents

indicated moderate satisfaction while 32.20% were satisfied by the promotional

offer of Vodafone.

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 In respect of pricing policy adopted by the Vodafone 39.50% were moderately

satisfied, 29.90% were satisfied and only 6.90% were highly satisfied by the

pricing policy of Vodafone.

 In case of product range offered to the subscribers by the Vodafone 33.31%

respondents were moderately satisfied with Vodafone.

 The collected data regarding brand image of Vodafone reveals that 40.41%

respondents were satisfied and 21.10% were highly satisfied while only 4.86%

respondents were highly dissatisfied by the brand image of the Vodafone.

 In context of advertisement 31.5% subscribers were satisfied, while 21.8% were

moderately satisfied by the advertisement of Vodafone.

 In case Celebrity Endorsement 37.4% indicates moderately satisfied and 49.21%

were satisfactory and 15.50% were highly dissatisfied with the celebrity

endorsement factor of sales promotion of Vodafone.

 Regarding grievance handling mechanism, 34.21% subscribers were moderately

satisfied while 29.41% shows dissatisfied and only 10.16% were highly satisfied

by the grievance handling mechanism adopted by Vodafone.

6.2.3 Bharti Airtel

 In respect of quality of services of Airtel 28.32% subscribers are moderately

satisfied. It is pertinent to observe that 22% showed dissatisfaction by the Quality

of service offered by Airtel.

 Regarding the promotional offers by Airtel 31.7% subscriber are dissatisfied and

24.4% were satisfied and 10.9% were highly dissatisfied with Airtel promotional

offers.

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 In respect of pricing policy 42.2% were moderately satisfied and only 9.8% were

highly satisfied while 12.18% indicates highly dissatisfied by the pricing policy of

Airtel.

 Product range 34.3% was moderately satisfied and 24.2% indicates satisfaction

level while 12.2% were highly dissatisfied with product range of Airtel.

 Regarding brand image of Airtel 34.18% indicates satisfaction level followed

28.32% subscribers were moderately satisfied by the brand image of Airtel.

 In case of advertisement 30% responses indicates satisfaction and 29.48% were

moderately satisfied while 9.2% were highly dissatisfied by the advertisement

made by Airtel.

 Regarding celebrity endorsement 36.99 % were moderately satisfied and only

10.98% subscriber indicates highly satisfied level with celebrity endorsement

campaign of Airtel.

 Regarding grievance handling mechanism 29% responses were moderately

satisfied and 26.59% were dissatisfied with the grievance handling of Airtel.

6.2.4 Telenor

 Regarding quality of service of Telenor 27.42% subscriber are moderately

satisfied while the dissatisfaction and highly dissatisfaction subscribers were 49%

and 9.68% were highly satisfied by the Quality of Services provided by Telenor.

 In case of promotional offer of Telenor 34% subscriber were satisfied while

25.8% were highly satisfied by the promotional offers offered by Telenor.

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 In case of pricing policy of Telenor 38.81% were moderately satisfied and

25.81% were highly satisfied with the pricing policy of various services of

Telenor.

 In case of product range of Telenor 29.9% are moderately satisfied and 27.4%

indicated satisfaction level with the product range offered to subscribers of

Telenor.

 Regarding brand image of Telenor 28.29% were dissatisfied and 21.7% were

satisfied while only 12.98% indicates highly satisfied with the brand image of

Telenor service provider.

 Regarding advertisement 39.5% respondents indicated moderately satisfaction

and only 7.27% were highly dissatisfied with the advertising campaign of

Telenor.

 Regarding celebrity endorsement of Telenor services 38.78% are moderately

satisfied while 25.5% indicates dissatisfaction regarding celebrity endorsement of

Telenor.

 In case of grievance handling mechanism of Telenor 33% respondents indicted

moderately satisfaction and 25.85% subscribers were dissatisfied with the

grievance handling mechanism of Telenor.

It can be concluded that in Vodafone and Airtel the sales promotion practices of

Vodafone and Airtel service providers were effective as the % of satisfaction of service

users is higher than that of satisfied users but in case of Telenor service providers

percentage of dissatisfied service users are higher than that of satisfied users. It is

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relevant to mention that the grievance handling mechanism of all the service providers

could not give required satisfaction to service users. The celebrity endorsement used by

Telenor and Airtel service provider could not give desired satisfaction to the service

users. It is also relevant to conclude that Quality of Services, Promotional Offers, Pricing

Policy, Product Range, Brand Image and Advertisement were more effective in satisfying

the service users. It is also pertinent to point out that the major factors for sales

promotional practices like Promotional Offers, Pricing Policy and Product Range/basket

of offers were able to convince the subscribers in sustaining their present mobile service

providers.

6.3 Suggestions

The researcher would like to suggest certain measures that could be considered by the

mobile phone service providers to improve their efficiency, profitability and quality of

services. They can attract new mobile phone service users and retain their old subscribers

if they make their plans, policies, and strategies as per the market scenario.

Some suggestions on the key antecedents and consequences are presented below:

 The mobile service provider should work collectively for market expansion to

acquire/ attract more new customers.

 The mobile phone service provider should expand the distribution network of the

handset vendors at affordable price for lower income group of the society.

 The MPSP should pay more attention on quality of their services in terms of call

quality, clarity of voice, connectivity & geographical coverage.

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 The mobile service provider should adopt such pricing strategies should have

reasonable price packages so design to meet requirement & choices of various

income groups of the mobile phone users as per the social status of the customers.

 The mobile service provider should provide time to time, offers, attractive offers for

subscribers of different age group and income background.

 The mobile service providers should use such advertising media, IT techniques &

other latest techniques to reach all type of subscribers including subscribers living in

remote areas.

 One of the most important complains of the mobile phone service users are that their

grievances are not addressed properly. The mobile service provider should adopt

latest IT ways, grievance handling mechanism so that subscribers complain/

grievances are set right replied in minimum possible time. This will help them to

retain their subscribers/ service users.

 The mobile phone service provider should continuously upgrade the technology of

mobile services so that customers get the benefit of latest technology and remain as a

subscriber of the service provider.

 The mobile service provider should become more customer friendly by offering

additional facility such as no roaming charges.

 The mobile phone service providers should focus more on providing value added

services to generate more revenue.

 The mobile phone subscriber should tie up with corporate houses for use of their

services by their employ at special price offer.

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 The mobile service provider should provide for postpaid subscriber online payments

digital, digital payment or door to door collection procedure for the convenience of

the subscriber.

 The mobile service provider should impress the government to reduce the taxes on

mobile services so that it becomes cheaper and popular among the masses to fulfill

the dream of our Prime Minister Vision of digital India.

 To reach out to new consumers in rural and remote areas, the sharing of

infrastructure must be encouraged by the government. It would, indeed, be wasteful

for every operator to duplicate costly infrastructure. Infrastructure sharing on fair,

transparent and commercial terms will ensure that consumers in rural areas get

choice of service, quality as well as affordability.

 At present only 34.5 million mobile subscribers are active in the mobile industry.

Efforts should be made to make the balance 10 million subscribers also actively use

their mobile, connection through attractive offers.

 The new mobile companies, especially the CDMA operators, have learnt a bitter

lesson from this experience and tightened the controls and transferring most of the

subscribers to the pre-paid segment have reduced the possibility of “junk” customers

coming in to the network.

 The revolution in the mobile industry can happen only when the telecom companies

work towards market expansion rather than price/tariff changes. However, in the

pursuit to beat each other, the focus of each operator is only on price/tariff changes

instead of working collectively to acquire more new customers, who are confused

due to the constant changes and delay in entry.

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 The research reveals that marketing element is the significant determinant of Sales

promotion strategy. Marketing mix also leads to increased commitment from the

customer. The customer looks for a better association with the telecom service

provider it is dealing with. Marketing mix enhances the feeling of association,

developing a bonding and nurturing an associative long-term relationship.

 Service quality as network, coverage area, and transparency in billing, voice clarity,

accessing speed, and reliability of service provider are major influence on

satisfaction level of customer satisfaction.

 Promotion mix and product mix like advertising media, sales promotion offers, talk

time scheme, GPRS/Internet, tariff/ call charges, and value added services are mostly

affecting on buying decision making process of customers. Customer care service

like queries resolution, able to assessable, humble and soft spoken peoples are major

area to maintain for overall customer care satisfaction.

6.4 Conclusion

As a result of the liberalization, privatization, and demonopolization initiatives taken by

the government of India, the telecom sector is experiencing a historical growth. The trend

is expected to continue in the segment, as prices are falling as a result of competition in

the segment. The beneficiaries of the competition are the consumers, who are given a

wide variety of services. In the years to come, the country is predicted to witness a

communication revolution, which would increase the subscriber base to match that of the

developed world. The need of the time is a new revolution in telecom services and it is

imperative that service providers work towards the same and make it a reality.

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It can be concluded from this study that any particular sales promotion practice is

temporary in nature. Any new technology enhancement, new offers that are more

beneficial and the facility of Mobile Number Portability are different factors that

encourage the service users to change its mobile service provider.

An important contribution of this study is how sales promotion practices is developed and

sustained over different target market in telecommunication sector. The future

commitment of the customers to organization depends on perceived marketing element.

The issue and challenges is therefore increasingly recognized as a critical success factor

in the emerging scenario.

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