Consumer Switching Behavior

A study on Consumer Switching Behavior in cellular service Provider – Study with reference to Mumbai -------------------------------------------------
India mobile market is a fastest growing market and is forecasted to reach 864.47 million users by 2013.India has seen rapid increase in number of players which caused the tariff rates to hit in all time low. This allowed the players to target the low income population increasing the market share. Due to unavailability of number of subscriber options for customers and varied tariff rates of each player, lead the customers to switch the providers. The objective of the study is to find the factors that influence the customers in switching the service provider and to know the likeliness of using a particular service provider.
-------------------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION
India and mobile phone service providers
India has got around 11 mobile service providers including both the GSM and CDMA service. Among this 11, there are 8 GSM service providers and 3 CDMA service providers. * BSNL/MTNL - It is the largest telecom company in India with 24% market share and currently the customer base is around 90 million. This customer base includes fixed line phones, mobiles and DSL lines. It’s a government company with market value of around 100 Billion. * Airtel – It’s the world 's third largest single country mobile operator with around 110 million subscribers. Airtel provides fixed and mobile teleservices. Airtel has around 24% market share in India. * Reliance Communications - It’s a private company in which Anil Dhirubahi Ambani holds around 67% share. It has 17% market share in India. Reliance had initially started with the CDMA service but now has extended its services to GSM also. * Vodafone Essar - The market share is around 24% for vodafone and it operates in 33 circles in India. It provides only GSM mobile service in India. * Tata Teleservices

References: 3) HBR case Turning Copper into Gold: Bharti Airtel 's Fixed-Line Service in India By Varadharajan sridhar, Amit Malik | Nov 15, 2007 6) Bolton, R. N., and J. H. Drew (1991), "A Multistage Model of Customers ' Assessments of Service Quality and Value," Journal of Consumer Research, 17(4), pp. 375-385. 7) Ganesh, J. M., J. Arnold and K. E. Reynolds (2000), "Understanding the Customer Base of Service Providers: An Examination of the Differences between Switchers and Stayers," Journal of Marketing, 64(3), pp. 65-87. 8) Smith, R. E. and W. F. Wright (2004), "Determinants of Customer Loyalty and Financial Performance," Journal of Management Accounting Research, 16 (Special Issue), pp. 183-205. 9) Sureshchandar, G. S., C. Rajendran and R. N. Anantharaman (2002), "The Relationship between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction - a Factor Specific Approach," Journal of Services Marketing, 16 (4), pp.363-379. 13) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (2008), "Growth of Value Added Services and Regulatory Issues", Consultation Paper No. 12/2008, New Delhi. 14)  MARCO (2004), "A Report on Study of Mobile Phone Usage Among the Teenagers and Youth in Mumbai", Market Analysis and Consumer Research Organization, Mumbai. 15) Potts Geoff (2004), "Collage Students and Cell Phone Use: Gender Variation", Sociology of the Mobile Phone, Sozilolgisches Indtitut der Universitat, Zurich, Switzerland. 16) Igarashi T (2004), "Response Style of Mobile Phone Text Messages: Effects of Gender and Message Contents," Poster Presented at the 28th International Congress of Psychology, Beijing, China. 17) Ramachandran T V (2005), "The Indian Cellular Industry-An Overview", September 20, @ India Mobile Day 2005, COAI, New Delhi.