ABSTRACT

Customers switching behaviour has been found to reduce firms earnings and profits, market share and reputation image of the company. Therefore understanding the relationship with customers is crucial for service and product development of a company. This study therefore seeks to identify factors that affect customer switching behaviour and the effect of customer switching behaviour on organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana. The study employed questionnaires in a form of likert format with five-point rating scales was used to collect the data from the staffs and customer of Vodafone. The outcome of the study indicates that in Ghana core service failure, ethical problems and inappropriate employee response to service failure are found to significantly influence the likelihood of customer switching. Perceived price, customer inconvenience with the service provider, rapid change in technology and change in social status may not influence the likelihood of customer switching because their influence are not statistically significant therefore if any influence on likelihood of customer switching may be as a result of chance. The study found out that customers perceived the mobile telecom company to be making good profit and also contribute to socioeconomic development of Ghana. Finally, the outcome of the study indicated that customer switching behaviour reduce earnings and profit of firms, reduce market share and also negatively affect the reputation and image of the mobile telecom company in Ghana.

DEDICATION

To my Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kyei, to all my Friends especially MBA Marketing Students for 2009\10 academic year. and to all those who help to make this research a success. May the Good Lord bless you all.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am thankful to Almighty God for His mercies, kindness and guidance for making it possible for me to finish this work. I am grateful to my Supervisor, Dr. Kofi Poku for his constructive criticisms, suggestions, contributions, directions and above all his encouragement towards the realization of this study.

My sincere appreciation goes to the management and staff of Vodafone Ghana limited, Kumasi Adum branch for responding to the interviews and questionnaires. Finally, my sincere and heartfelt gratitude and appreciation go to entire lectures of KNUST Business School

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TABLE OF CONTENT ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i DEDICATION ................................................................................................................................ ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii TABLE OF CONTENT ................................................................................................................. iv CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1 GENERAL INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 1 1.1 1.2 Background of the Study .................................................................................................. 1 Problem Statement ........................................................................................................... 3

1.3 Objectives of the Study ......................................................................................................... 5 1.4 1.5 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5 Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 6

1.6 Scope of the Study................................................................................................................. 7 1.7 Limitation of the study .......................................................................................................... 7 1.8 Overview of Research Methodology..................................................................................... 7 1.8 1.9 Organization of the Study ................................................................................................ 7 Definition of Terms .......................................................................................................... 8

CHAPTER TWO ............................................................................................................................ 9 LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................................................... 9 2.1 The Definition of Switching Behaviour ................................................................................ 9 2.2 Driving forces to customer switching behaviour- Trigger Models ....................................... 9 2.3 Contributing factors to customer switching behaviour ....................................................... 12 2.3.1 Core Service failures in mobile telecommunication industry ...................................... 13 2.3.2. Customer inconvenience with the service provider ..................................................... 13 2.3.3 Ethical Problems in the Mobile Telecommunication Industry ............................... 14
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2.3.4 Customer involuntary Switching behaviour ................................................................. 15 2.3.5 Rapid change in Technology in the mobile telecommunication industry .................... 16 2.3.6 Perception of Customers on prices of Products or Services ......................................... 16 2.3.7 Inappropriate employee response to service failures .................................................... 18 2.4 Service Quality to ensure customer satisfaction ................................................................. 18 2.5 The Effect of Switching Behaviour on organizational performance................................... 21 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 23 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 23 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Research Design ............................................................................................................. 23 Population...................................................................................................................... 25 Sampling Technique ......................................................................................................... 26 Sample Size ...................................................................................................................... 27

3.6 Data Collection .................................................................................................................... 27 3.6.1 3.6.2 3.7 3.8 Primary Data ........................................................................................................... 28 Secondary Data ....................................................................................................... 28

Data Analysis ................................................................................................................. 29 Quality of the Research ................................................................................................... 29 Construct Validity...................................................................................................... 30 Reliability .................................................................................................................. 31

3.8.1 3.8.2 3.9

Scope and Limitation of the Study ................................................................................. 31

3.9 Profile of Vodafone ............................................................................................................. 32 CHAPTER FOUR ......................................................................................................................... 33 DATA PRESENTAION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................... 33
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4.1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 33 4.2 Profile of the responding customers .................................................................................... 33 4.2.1 Gender of the respondent .............................................................................................. 34 4.2.2 Age of the respondents ................................................................................................. 34 4.2.3 Educational Level ......................................................................................................... 35 4.2.4 Income level ................................................................................................................. 36 4.2.5 Product type the customers are using ........................................................................... 36 4.3 Profile of the responding Staff ....................................................................................... 37

4.3.1 Gender .......................................................................................................................... 37 4.3.2 Educational Level ......................................................................................................... 38 4.3.3 Work experience ........................................................................................................... 38 4.2.4 Current rank of staffs .................................................................................................... 39 4.4 4.5 Factors that influence customers switching behaviour in mobile telecom industry ...... 40 Trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom ........................................... 45

4.6 Customers perception about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana ...................................................................................................................... 46 4.6.1 Whether telecom companies is making profit .............................................................. 47 4.6.2 Whether telecom companies is doing well in corporate social responsibility .............. 48 4.6.3 Extent of telecom industry contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana..... 49 4.7 Effects of customer switching behavior on the organizational performance ................. 50

4.7.1 Firms earnings and profit .............................................................................................. 50 4.7.2 Company market share ................................................................................................. 51 4.7.3 Reputation and image of the company ......................................................................... 52 CHAPTER FIVE .......................................................................................................................... 54 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ........................... 54
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5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 54 5.2 Summary of findings ........................................................................................................... 54 5.2.1 Factors that influence customers switching behaviour in mobile telecom industry ..... 54 5.2.2. Trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom ........................................ 54 5.2.3 Customers perception about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana................................................................................................................... 55 5.2.4 Effects of customer switching behavior on the organizational performance ............... 55 5.3 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 56 5.4 Recommendations ............................................................................................................... 57 References ..................................................................................................................................... 58 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................. 61

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CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the Study

The mobile telecommunication business has changed in Ghana during the recent years. From being a monopoly, the market has switched into a more competitive market with more competitors that offer more services. Worldwide, countries have seen a boom in the mobile telecommunication market over the last few years. Mobile phones, once a luxury of the highpowered business elite, have invaded every space of our lives (Ellis, 1999). The increase in demand has led to increase in competition in the mobile telecommunication industry. In order to understand why customers change from the services of a certain company, it is important to gather background information about the switching process. Recognizing a customers switching pattern can be most useful in order to create sustainable relationships for future customer relationships. There are different ways of acting while changing a service provider and there are factors that make the customers start thinking about changing. The latter are called triggers. According to Roos, et al. (2004) there are three different kinds of triggers; situational, influential and reactional. Situational triggers are changes in the customers environment, for example the life situation or a demographic change. In situations where competitive forces are the driving factors, the trigger is called influential. This can be a situation where a competitor is trying to increase their market share. Reactional triggers have a direct connection to an incident that occurred between the provider and the customer. Mobile telecommunications sector has been frequently analyzed from the marketing perspective. The understanding of customer switching
1

and

loyalty

behaviour

in

the

mobile

telecommunication has gained considerable attention in recent years. Although it is also pointed out that the mechanisms of customer switching behavior in the mobile telecommunication industry are not completely understood. In the past, marketers had focused on acquiring customers, selling what they produced, without maintaining their customers, selling was most important in the sale concept (Kotler and Keller, 2006). One of the main characteristics of the mobile telecommunications sector is that instead of offering products or service alone, bundles of services are offered when acquiring new customers or retaining existing ones. This has led to unsatisfied customers switching for better and cheaper services. There has been a shift from transactions to relationship-focused marketing. Selling is not the most important anymore. Customer retention strategy is widely accepted by marketing scholars and practitioners as an integral part of successful marketing today. Marketers are focusing on creating lifelong customers. Apart from increasing the firms revenues, continuing customers contribute to cutting its costs, since they are less expensive to serve (Ganesh et al, 2002). Therefore losing a customer is a serious setback for the firm in terms of its present and future earnings. In addition to losing the benefits discussed above, the firm needs to invest resources in attracting new customers to replace the lost ones. Some business analysts have indicated that recruiting new customers costs five times more than retaining existing customers (Mittal and Lasser, 1998) When a firm consistently satisfies the value expectations of the customer, the customer becomes loyal to the organization. Satisfied customers therefore become assets, being attached to the firms, which results in loyalty, which develops into long-term relationship. The priority of any business must be to win and keep the customers. Emphasis should therefore be placed on
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customers by identifying, anticipating and satisfying their requirements profitably (Gronroos, Paravatiyar and Sheth, 2000). Successful marketers are working on effective strategies to retaining customers from switching. It is therefore imperative for mobile phone operators in Ghana to develop innovative customerretention strategies to prevent customers from switching from their network to another. The mobile phone Industry in Ghana is a growing one and very competitive, therefore, the players in the industry should focus on the performance of the organization, and enhancement of customer relationships for the development of the industry. This thesis has been conducted to investigate the effects of customers switching behaviour on organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry. The decision to switch is based on either active or passive response. The researcher seeks to find out if the customers have made an active choice to change providers, or if they were influenced to make the change.

1.2 Problem Statement Understanding the relationship with customers is crucial for service and product development of a company. Being able to sustain a long relationship between the provider and the customer is essential since it is easier to hold customers than attract new ones. Therefore, it is important for the companies to develop an understanding of what the customers decisions are influenced by. Due to the complexity of the customers minds there is often not just one single reason for a customer to switch services. The factors that lead to the final decision to switch have to be recognized and companies need to adjust their actions to it. Many companies adjust their services by offering lower prices compared to the competitors to take advantage of the customers price
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perception. However, companies cannot only concentrate on the price for their services but consider also other factors that influence the customers. To begin with the price might be the most important argument for customers but outcome and value of the service will also be significant as soon as the customers realize problems with these. Therefore, the price is not the only component; customers have also other perceptions of services, what they are and why those animate to switch varies from service to service and they are often is vague.

Due to the intensity of competition in the mobile telecommunication industry, some of the firms are gradually losing customers to others due to lack of retention strategies and poor service performance. The competition takes the form of price wars, addition of innovative services, and competitive advertising. Telecommunication industry especially mobile phone service market has very high customer churn ratios (Anneta Sidhu 2005). Customers keep moving from one provider to another for cheaper and better services. This has greatly affected the players in the areas of market share, low sales, and weak competitive positioning. The solution to problem is the practice of customer retention strategies to maintain customers for life (Kotler and Keller, 2005). Therefore, it is important for the companies to develop an understanding of what the customers decisions are influenced by. Due to the complexity of the customers minds there is often not just one single reason for a customer to switch services. The factors that lead to the final decision to switch have to be recognized and companies need to adjust their actions to it. It has therefore become imperative to build and maintain longterm base of committed customers who are profitable for the organization through customer retention.

1.3 Objectives of the Study Based on the statement of the problem, the overall objective of the research is to find out the effect of customer switching behaviour on organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry. In addition, the following specific objectives will be achieved by the research. To determine the factors that contributes to customer switching behaviour in mobile telecommunication industry. To find out the trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecommunication industry between June 2009 and June 2010 To find out customers perception about the performance of the mobile

telecommunication industry in Ghana. To recommend critical success factors in considering customer switching behaviour on organizational performance.

1.4 Research Questions The major research questions to be answered in the study are; What effects does customer switching behavior have on the organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana? What are the factors that contribute to customers switching behaviour in the mobile telecommunication industry?

What is the trend of customer switching behaviour in the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana?

What perception does customers have about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana?

1.5 Significance of the Study A study of customer switching behaviour in the mobile phone industry as mentioned earlier is important because of the significant role mobile phones play in our daily life. Therefore, it is necessary for the stakeholders to be continually aware about the development and improvement in the industry. The researcher is of view that if the research objectives are achieved, it will be useful for the following parties: Management of Mobile telecommunication industry: The study will be useful to the mobile phone firms, as a framework for effective study and managing the customers in the sector. Academia: The report will serve as a base for Academicians who want to conduct studies in customer switching behaviour in similar fields. The General Public: The report of the study will assist individuals and organizations who want to conduct similar studies in the mobile phone sector.

1.6 Scope of the Study The study will focus on Vodafone Ghana limited in the Ashanti region of Ghana. Kumasi Adum branch would be chosen as a case study. The major part of the study will focus on the marketing and human resource department of Vodafone Ghana limited.

1.7 Limitation of the study The study is limited to subjective soft data, such as perceptual data, and not a hard data, from audited financial reports. Moreover, there was a limited budget for the study. Also inadequate time was constraint to the study. However, serious effort was made to minimize the impact of these limitations on the study.

1.8 Overview of Research Methodology This study will be undertaken by employing various data techniques such as questionnaires, personal interviews and literature surveys to acquire both primary and secondary data. With regards to primary data, series of interviews will be conducted to assess the performance of Vodafone Ghana limited and why its customers switch. Some officials of the company as well as employees and customers of the company will be interviewed within Kumasi metropolis.

1.8 Organization of the Study The study comprises five chapters; Chapter One is devoted to the general introduction consisting background of the study, problem statement, objectives, research questions, significant and scope of the study Chapter Two is mainly concerned with Literature Review and conceptual framework of the study, Chapter Three provides the Methodology applied to achieve the research objective,
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Chapter Four deals with Data Presentation Analysis and Discussions and finally Chapter Five provides a summary of the major findings, conclusions, recommendations and issues raised for further research.

1.9 Definition of Terms The following terms as used within the context of this study are defined as: Switching behaviour reflects the decision that a customer makes to stop purchasing a particular service or patronising the service firm completely. Customer satisfaction that is meeting the needs or exceeding the expectation of the customer Customer retention: as an integrated effort to identify, maintain and build up a network with customers continually through interaction over a long period of time. Price wars: Intense competition in which competitors cut retail prices to gain business. Target market: the attractive market served by the firms.

Mobile phone operators in Ghana: firms operating the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana are Vodafone, MTN, Kasapa, Tigo and Zain

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 The Definition of Switching Behaviour

Switching behaviour is defined as defection or customer exit (Hirschman, 2007). According to Boote (2004) and Bolton & Bronkhurst (2009), switching behaviour reflects the decision that a customer makes to stop purchasing a particular service or patronizing the service firm completely. In mobile telecommunication industry context, customer switching behaviour means customers shift from one service provider to another (Garland, 2005).

Previous studies have shown that there are different ways of switching among customers, exempli gratia switching totally or partly (Roos et al 2004). If the outcome is total or partial, depends on the amount of energy in the determinant phase when the customer is faced with a trigger. The more energy the trigger contains, the more possibility there is for a total switch. Also there are studies that show that there are ways of express the reasons for switching. These are called switching determinants. These are the reasons for the switching that is declared from the customers point of view. One common determinant is for example the price. By understanding the reasons for switching, the switching determinants, companies have a more solid ground when it comes to create loyal customers. The determinants present the important issues for the customers. If one determinant is not to the customers satisfaction, a switch might occur.

2.2 Driving forces to customer switching behaviour- Trigger Models

The starting point of the movement in customer relationships when it comes to switching is referred to as the trigger. This breaking point is a reason for customers to switch providers, there might be a trigger that starts the switching process. This can be a change in the relationship between the customer and the provider. This is caused by a factor or an event (Roos et al. 2004). The trigger can appear in two dimensions; latent and overt. A latent trigger is where an activated attitude about the current provider is not present. The customer is therefore not aware of the trigger until their attitude is activated and the customer is influenced by the trigger. When the customer is aware of the trigger, he or she develops an understanding and a clear attitude towards the provider; the trigger changes to an overt trigger. An overt trigger will at some point bring stability. The customer will become more and more aware of what provider that will be able to offer the services in a satisfying way. Through time the customer will become more experienced and their knowledge will increase (Roos and Gustafsson 2007).

According to Roos et al. (2004), there are three kinds of triggers; situational, influential and reactional. Situational triggers are defined as changes in a customers life such as demographical or social changes. There might be a change in the living situation or the family situation. These are changes in the customers life that in a way forces the customer to switch providers. The switching does not have to be related to the service provider. These kinds of triggers are active triggers. Influential triggers are a competitive situation where the market share is a common factor. Competitors try to increase their market share by using for example promotion or price battle in order to stand out from their competitors. These actions can be a commercial campaign. This way the competitive market influences the customers to get an interest in the company and their products. In this trigger, there is a comparison between other options. This trigger can be
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seen as both active and passive (Roos & Gustafsson 2007). The passive side is where a service provider contacts the customer and a trigger is therefore reveled. The customer does not himself or herself make any effort and are affected by a third party. This passive trigger is often unconscious and therefore the switch can be seen as a sudden decision. The active influential trigger is when the customers themselves have found information, for example from a commercial. The customer has been influenced and they do an active switch.

If the customer is exposed to a critical event, for example a disagreement between the customer and the provider, it is called a reactional trigger. This is a good example of an active trigger. There has been a recent incident in the relationship between the customer and the provider. One situation can be a lack of service from the provider or mistakes in an invoice. This trigger is the only one of the three mentioned above that are an immediate reaction to the provider. Often this trigger is located within the company. By switching it is a way of showing that the customers does not approve of the service provided, or the communication has not been to their satisfaction.

Based on studies by Roos (2004) the fact that once a customer has experienced a trigger means that the customer has more intentions to switch. This can be a long-term process and gradually the customer gathers more experiences which could all affect the decision of switching. This long-term process is one of the driving forces of being sensitive to switching. Studies by Roos et al
(2004) discuss the effects of situational or reactional triggers. They explain when a customer is facing a situational trigger; they tend to think less of prior performances. The reason for leaving is not because of bad experience but because they are more or less forced to change. Therefore the past is not as relevant for switchers with situational triggers. On the other hand, switchers that has faced reactional trigger are 11

more eager or able to focus on past and future performances. People that have been faced with reactional triggers tend to be more problem solving. Focusing on the future performance makes the present less interesting.

2.3 Contributing factors to customer switching behaviour Prior research has shown that it is not only important to know why customers switch, it is equally important to understand how they switch. The importance lies within understanding how the customers act whilst switching provider. There are two different terms to describe customers during the switching process; active and passive customers. The active customer switching is the customers that are actively searching for other options. They have made a choice to switch and are comparing options. These customers often contact the new provider themselves and are aware of what they want. There is a tendency to higher knowledge of the product and these customers know what applicants to compare. Passive switchers on the other hand are customers who get influenced by a third party and may not be aware that switching could be an option. This does not necessarily mean that they did not want to switch, often these customers have the intention to switch and are just waiting for the right moment (Roos and Gustafsson 2007).

A phenomenon that has been mentioned in prior studies is prejudices, which are mental processes that influence the customers behaviour outside the customers awareness (Roos and Gustafsson (2007). This phenomenon contains customers that unconsciously have made up their mind of switching before they get contacted by a competitor. An influence might be the price level. If they are to be contacted by a company that offers lower prices, they are more eager to change as they already had the intention to change once they got a cheaper option. Until they
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have received a new option, the prejudice state is latent. Customers can also lose this state. Roos and Gustafsson (2007) states; As long as they are influenced by prejudice, they are motivated to switch. When they are no longer motivated, they move off the switching path to a no-trigger condition

Sidhu A. (2005), also suggested some critical factors will cause switching behaviour, such as attraction by competitors, inappropriate employee response to service failures, pricing problems, core service failures, service encounter failures, inconvenience, ethical problems, and situation changes. Below are some reasons to switching behaviour given by Anneta Sidhu, (2005)

2.3.1 Core Service failures in mobile telecommunication industry Core service failure includes all critical incidents that were due to mistakes or technical problems with the service itself. (Keaveney, 1995, cited in Anneta Sidhu, 2005). These are billing errors, service mistakes and service catastrophes. A customer experience of inaccurate billing combined with failure or delaying in correcting the error in time can result stimulating switching behaviour. As mentioned earlier, another aspect of core service failure is service catastrophe-break downs of core function of the service company, which can result in loss of appropriate service and negatively impact customer in terms of time and money thereby, leading to customers switching away from their current service provider.

2.3.2. Customer inconvenience with the service provider

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Customer inconvenience is another reason for customers switching mobile phone networks. This factor includes contributors such as service providers hours of operation time elapsed while waiting for service, companys location, or simply waiting for appointment (Keaveney, 1995). However, waiting for service can be a serious contributing factor for customer switching, especially when customers do not know how long the wait will be. With most of the functions being performed over the mobile telecommunication in this technological world, customers have been known to wait long a time trying to get through to customer service representative. One solution suggested by Taylor 1994 to avoid irritating waiting customers in her research is Filling time can reduce anger and uncertainty felt by the waiting clients (Taylor, 1994).

Some mobile telecommunication industries have begun realizing the importance of reducing anger and uncertainty amongst customers during long waits. Companies such as Vodafone Ghana limited offer customers music of their choice when they call into the Interactive Voice Recording (IVR) system. Research indicates that customers pay less attention to delay when they are occupied with something else.

2.3.3 Ethical Problems in the Mobile Telecommunication Industry

According to Blumberg et.al (2005), ethics can be defined as the moral principles, norms or standards of behaviour that guide moral choices about our behaviour and our relationships with others'. Behavior that is unethical such as dishonesty, unsafe practice, or conflict of interest falls into the ethical problem category. A common complaint amongst customers has been that while mobile phone service providers announce a low price for their package, there are usually hidden
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charges. Such hidden charges and pricing can prove harmful in the long run as it results in massive churn with customers switching as soon as better offer is made. In California, a law was passed recently called telecommunications Consumer Bill of Rights which requires the service providers to disclose service and price information up front, in easy to understand language and readable print (Schumer, 2003).

With customer calling patterns constantly changing, their rate plans need to be optimized to ensure that they are on plans best suited to their needs. Although such optimization may result loss of profit in the short term, it builds client loyalty over the long term and thus help the service provider to recover activation cost and make profit from the client. Motivated by short-term profit, some service providers may choose not to put clients on the optimal plan. This would be viewed as dishonesty by customers, leading to switching behaviour.

2.3.4 Customer involuntary Switching behaviour

This is very common Ghana so far as mobile telecommunication industry is concern. There are occasions when customers switch due to circumstances beyond the control of the customer or the service provider. An example of this is when a customer moves to an area where the provider does not have a good coverage and the customer is consequently forced to switch to a different service provider (Keaveney, 1995). The latest wave of acquisition and merges within the mobile telecommunication industry is another factor leading to involuntary switching. For example, When Vodafone plc acquired Ghana Onetouch, most of Onetouch customer base was forced to switch to Vodafone Ghana limited involuntary, thus leading to switching behaviour.
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2.3.5 Rapid change in Technology in the mobile telecommunication industry

With technology advancing at a rapid pace, mobile phone service providers are scrambling to keep up with customer needs and in the process trying to distinguish themselves from their competitors. Offering new services not only help companies retain and gain customers but also provide a means of generating greater revenue from satisfied customers (Marchand, 2003).

Companies that do not offer services in keeping with the technology trend, ultimately end up losing their customers to a competitor that does offer the service. The new technology of camera phones is typical example, with Nokia building a smaller phone equipped with camera, Motorola market share was negatively impacted and dropped to the number two spot globally. As customers claim its just cool to have the latest-model handset (Pringles, Druker, and Ramstad, 2006). Mobile telecommunication service providers that tie up with these manufactures to offer the latest equipments along with enhanced services appear to have competitive advantage over competitors, leaving customers less likely to switch for a better service provider.

2.3.6 Perception of Customers on prices of Products or Services

Price is the monetary cost for a customer to buy products or services. It is the critical determinant that influences customer buying decision. Customers usually select their service providers relying on perceived price. How much customers are willing to pay differs due to their different needs and wants. Thus, the price perceptions to the same service products may differ among
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individuals. Higher pricing perceived by customers might negatively influence their purchase probabilities (Peng and Wang, 2006). Price perception is also thought to be related to price searching. Customers are likely to be attracted by perceived high quality services at perceived competitive prices during the searching process. According to Chitty et al. (2007), customers often judge price relating to service quality, and accordingly generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction, depending on the equity principle. If a customer perceives price as fairness, he or she is willing to conduct this transaction with the service provider. Based on previous studies, Cheng et al. (2008), proposed that price perception can be measured by two dimensions: one is reasonableness of prices, which reflects the way that price is perceived by customers comparing to that of competitors; another is value for money, which implies the relative status of the service provider in terms of price. In general, high-quality services are considered to cost more than low-quality equivalents. Many researchers have pointed out that price perception influences customer satisfaction and trust. Customers often switch mainly due to some pricing issues, e.g. high price perceived, unfair or deceptive pricing practices (Peng and Wang, 2006). Therefore, in order to increase customer satisfaction, it is essential for service firms to actively manage their customers price perceptions, e.g. carrying out attractive pricing, offering reasonable prices mix, lower prices without decreasing quality. This means that the current provider would benefit from making their customers aware of new campaigns, or just remind them of their prices, helps the customer to have more knowledge about their products or services and they would have a deeper understanding for the service they are provided with. If a competitor contacts the customer they will create a trigger that might end up in a decision to switch (Roos et al., 2007).

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2.3.7 Inappropriate employee response to service failures

The human factor plays a critical role so far as customer satisfaction is concern. If the service provider fails to address or handle a customer complaint appropriately, it can lead to switching behaviour. Reluctant response, failure to respond, or negative responses from a companys employee, are amongst the main reasons leading to loss of customers. (Anneta Sidhu, 2005) The importance of this factor can be judge from the Ericsson Consumer lab survey where 88 percent of the people in Canada surveyed expressed that customer service was an important factor influencing their choice of provider. Some common complaints in this category were that the representative was empathetic or did not acknowledge that the complaint was legitimate. literature suggest that making excuses or delivering outcomes in a rude or insincere manner affects the value of the outcomemanner in which the review is communicated influence perceived fairness outcome (Tax Brown, 2004). A good example of this is Mr. Simpson and his request to call forward his cell phone. When he discovered his call were not forwarding, he had to call in several times to get the problem resolved. In spite of repeated assurances, the problem continued. The situation was compounded by the fact that each time he had to repeat his problem to a new representative who had no knowledge of his issue, leading to further frustration. (Allossery, 2006).Therefore, customers with similar problem as Mr. Simpson are likely to switch away from their current service providers.

2.4 Service Quality to ensure customer satisfaction

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Service is different from physical products. Compared with physical products, Service is thought to be intangible, heterogeneous, produced and consumed simultaneously, unable to be kept in stock, etc. A widely accepted definition of service is proposed by Gronroos in 1990 as: A service is a process consisting of a series of more or less intangible activities that normally, but not necessarily always, take place in interactions between the customer and service employees and/or physical resources or goods and/or systems of the service provider, which are provided as solutions to customer problems. This definition implied that service is a process where interactions between customer and service provider most often exist. Hence, in a service context, there are almost relationships between customers and service provider; such relationship can be used as a basis for marketing (Gronroos, 2000). In order to retain loyal customer who will bring long-term profit to the firm, the key issue for service provider is to make use of this relationship in the way it manages customers by offering what customers needs and wants.

The quality of a service is subjectively perceived by customers during the interactions with a firm. Parasuraman et al. (1988) defined service quality as the consumers judgment about a firms overall excellence or superiority. What happens and perceived by customers in the interaction process will obviously have critical impacts on customers evaluation of service quality. Due to the peculiar attributes of service, the evaluation of service quality is more complex than evaluation of product quality. There have been various ways for measurements of service quality proposed by previous researches and literatures. The famous measurement model of service quality is SERVQUAL developed by Parasuraman et al. (1988), who measured the differences between customer expectations and perceptions cross five determinants as follows:

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Tangibles:

Appearance

of

physical

facilities,

equipment,

employees

and

communication materials from a service company. Reliability: A service companys ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately. Assurance: employees knowledge and behavior about courtesy and ability to convey trust and confidence. Responsiveness: A service company is willing to help customers and provide punctual services. Empathy: A service company provides care and individualized attention to its customers, as well as having convenient operating hours.

Based on integrating previous studies and conceptual works, Gronroos (2000) summarized seven criteria of good perceived service quality as: (1) professionalism and skills; (2) employees attitudes and behavior; (3) accessibility and flexibility; (4) reliability and trustworthiness; (5) service recovery; (6) servicescape; and (7) reputation and credibility. The first criteria is outcome-related and thus a technical quality dimension; the last one is image-related and fulfils a filtering function; and the rest five ones are process-related and present the functional quality dimensions (Ibid). High service quality is regarded as a key to succeed in competitive service markets. Many researchers have showed that service quality perceived by customers are will directly influence customers satisfaction, as well as their trust in the service firm. Customers might be satisfied when a firm provides better services than their pre-purchase expectations. Customer trusts also emerge when customers perceive positive service quality from a firm, and believe the service firm would bring preferable outcomes for them. In mobile telecommunication
20

industry which belongs to service industry, service quality is an important indicator to assess a service providers performance. Offering a high quality service is considered to be a visible way to create customers trust and satisfaction, as well as obtaining competitive advantages and building a long-term relationship with customers.

2.5 The Effect of Switching Behaviour on organizational performance

Keaveney and Parthasarathy (2005) find that customers switching behaviour reduces firms earnings and profits. Additional profits are lost because the initial investment on the customer (e.g. consulting or advertising costs) are wasted and further costs are required to obtain a new customer (Colgate, Steward & Kinsella, 2006). In Reichheld & Sassers (2003) study, customer defection is seen as having a stronger ability to impact on revenue than on scale, market share, unit costs, and other factors that are usually associated with competitive advantage. Customers tend to behave unfavourably such as switching service providers if their performance is inferior (Zeithaml et al., 2005). Furthermore, customer switching can bring negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt a service providers reputation and image (Diane, 2004). The competitive mobile telecommunication industry has been concerned with customers switching behaviour as it normally reduces the companys market share and profit (Ennew & Binks, 2008). Garland (2005), and Rust & Zahorik (2006) study the financial implications of customer retention and find that there is a strong relationship between customer loyalty and profitability in telecommunication industry, since it is hard for mobile phone service providers to meet all customers needs and requirements. In order to minimise the negative effects of customer switching behaviour and enhance long-term relationships with customers, researchers have
21

focused their attention on various factors to retain existing customers at a faster rate than it acquires new ones (Ibid). Therefore, good managers should understand that the road to growth runs through customers not only attracting new customers, but also holding on existing customers, motivating them to spend more and getting them to recommend products and services to the other people (Keiningham et al., 2008).

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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Introduction Elabi et al (2002 cited in Eshun and Taylor, 2009) maintain that in conducting any type of research it should be governed by a well defined research methodology based on scientific principles. Methodologies are considered to be systems of explicit rules and produced, upon which research is based and also against which claims for knowledge are evaluated (Nachamias, et al, 2007). Also Lee (1989 cited in Opoku and Naeem, 2004) suggested that a well developed research methodology provides understanding of products and processes of scientific enquiry. Kaplan (1973 cited in Eshun and Taylor, 2009) suggested that a well-developed research methodology provides understanding of products and processes of scientific enquiry. This chapter discusses the methodology employed to achieve the objectives of the research. The methodology includes the research design, population, sampling, primary and secondary data, research instruments and analysis of data.

3.2 Research Design A research design is the logic that links the data to be collected (and the conclusions to be drawn) to the initial questions of the study. (Yin, 2003) If empirical research has not an explicit research design, it has an implicit plan which guides through the research process. For determining the case study design, five components need to be taken into account: the studys

23

questions, its propositions, its unit of analysis, the logic linking the data to the propositions and the criteria for interpreting the findings (Yin, 2003).

Research can be formulated in certain ways depending on the objectives as indicated in the research problem. According to Zikmund (2000) proposed many research activities help to categorise the purpose of the study in terms of the research into three namely exploratory, descriptive and explanatory.

The classification in terms of the purpose of the study can often be distinguished between exploratory, descriptive and explanatory research. The purpose of the study is in connection with the research problem and also depends on the objectives and problem formulation, The question as to what research question to use is not a question of either/or other three classification tends to overlap. The purpose can be exploratory and become more descriptive later (Saunders, et al, 2007).

An exploratory research is a valuable means of finding out what is happening, seek new insights, ask questions and assess phenomena in new light (Robson, 2004). Exploratory approach is helpful when the researcher wants to clarify the understating of a problem. The great advantage is that it is flexible and adaptable to change (Eshun, et al, 2009). Robson (2004) stated that, a descriptive research is to portray an accurate profile of persons, events or situations. Furthermore, Saunders et al (2007) also elaborated that a descriptive research can be seen as an extension of an exploratory research. With descriptive purpose the researcher already needs to have a clear picture of the phenomena he/she will further investigate.
24

Anderson and Svensson (2007) postulated that a research starts with exploratory phase to find what the study is about and continues to descriptive and explanatory depending on the objectives of the study. This study is both descriptive and exploratory since it seeks to find out what is happening, seek insights and ask questions about effect of customer switching behaviour on organisational performance in Vodafone Ghana limited. The study also seeks to describe events, situations and draw conclusions on data collected. The research design used to obtain the data was a survey. A survey is a research strategy that involves the structured collection of data from a sizeable population. Although the term survey is often used to describe the collection of data using questionnaires, it includes other techniques such as structured observation and structured interviews (Saunders, et al, 2007).This was chosen after a careful study and an in-depth review of related literature as to how to research into an area

3.3

Population

The population of the study was current Vodafone mobile phone users in Kumasi. It included both post paid and prepaid customers. Vodafone mobile post-paid service is tailor-made for top executives and corporate organisations. Customers are required to settle their bills at the end of the month by paying rental charges in addition to calls made. Vodafone mobile prepaid service on the other hand has been packaged such that customers can make calls by buying credit to load on their mobile phones. The population size consisted of staff and customers (subscribers) of Vodafone Ghana limited in Kumasi.

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3.4

Sampling Technique

There are various sampling strategies used in research and these two main categories are probability sampling and non-probability sampling (Saunderset al, 2007). According to Saunders et al (2007), with probability sampling the chance of each case being selected from the population is known and is usually equal for all cases. There are five main techniques used to select a probability sample, namely: simple random, systematic, stratified random, cluster and multi-stage. With the non-probability sampling, the probability of each case being selected from the total population is not known. The techniques used in conducting non probability sampling are quota, purposive, snowball, self-selection and convenience.

It is not possible to collect and gain data from all available sources to solve the research problems and to find solutions. Thus sampling techniques provide methods that help to reduce the amount of data needed to be collected by considering only data a sub-group rather than all possible cases or elements (Saunders, et al, 2007). There are number of ways to choose a sample for case studies. The sample selection process is continued until the required sample has been reached (Yin, 2003).

Regarding the purpose of this research and research strategies the purposive and convenience sampling technique would be used. According to Saunders et al (2007) purposive sampling enables researchers to use their judgments to select cases that will enable to answer research questions and to meet their objectives. This form of sampling is often used when working with small samples such as in case study research when the researcher wishes to select cases that are

26

particularly informative. Convenience sampling is a non- probability sampling procedure in which cases are selected haphazardly on the basis that they are easiest to obtain

Again for this study, purposive and convenience sampling would be used since the population to be selected must be within Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. This would best enable us answer the research questions and meet the objectives of the study.

3.5 Sample Size In all, a sample size of 100 respondents which is made up of sixty (60) mobile phone subscribers and forty (40) staff of Vodafone Ghana limited, Kumasi Adum branch was selected based on their availability, willingness to participate, time and financial constraints. The sample was selected with regards to the established objectives of the study. 3.6 Data Collection According to Blaxter et al (2001), research includes collection of data and analysis of data. Denscombe (2000) maintains that there are four main methods for collecting data; these are questionnaires, interviews, observations and documents. Questionnaires were the main research instrument used to collect data for the study. A pilot survey was conducted among Vodafone customers of Anwomaso Catholic Church in Kumasi. Copies of the questionnaire were delivered to respondents by hand and prior arrangements were made with the respondents. Before the respondents answered the items, the researcher took his time to explain the essence of the research and the meaning of the items to them. This was to ensure that the respondents actually

27

understood the individual questions. If the items were well understood, it would enhance reliability of responses. Data can be divided into primary data, i.e. data which has not existed prior to the research, and secondary data, i.e. data which has existed prior to the research.

3.6.1 Primary Data Primary data is data originated by the researcher specifically to address the research problem. Compared to available data from variety of sources, these include higher cost and longer time frame in collecting and analyzing the data. Questionnaires and informal interviews were used as a research instrument to collect the primary data. The questionnaire was generated based on the objectives of the study. The researcher administered the questionnaires personally to the respondents to obtain the necessary data. The items of the questionnaires mainly consisted of close-ended type and a few open-ended ones.

3.6.2 Secondary Data Secondary data is data used for a research project that were originally collected for some other purposes. It includes both quantitative and qualitative data and they are used principally in both descriptive and explanatory research (Saunders, et al, 2007). Secondary sources of data were also used to supplement the primary data. The secondary sources of data were used to obtain additional information to support the responses gathered from the questionnaires. A number of both published and unpublished materials on mobile
28

telecommunication industries and organisational performance, including academic journals, articles, magazines, libraries and also in-house corporate materials of Vodafone were used. Materials were also sourced from the internet. The data that was collected from the secondary source significantly assisted in the development of primary data collection instruments and the interpretation of results. The rationale for using this source of data was that they were easily accessible and cheaper.

3.7

Data Analysis

Quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis were employed. Raw data collected was edited to detect and correct errors and omissions to ensure validity, reliability and consistency. The data was coded and tallied item by item and input into the computer. Statistical Package for social scientists (SPSS) or excel was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize and present the information in the form of percentage, frequency, and graphs. Regression analysis was performed. A pilot survey was conducted among Vodafone customers of Anwomaso Catholic Church in Kumasi to ensure validity and reliability of responses.

3.8 Quality of the Research Researching requires the presentation of valid and reliable data Yin (2003). Without an accurate and reliable outcome, the research is not valuable and the outcome is not useful in further researches (Silverman, 2006).

29

3.8.1

Construct Validity

Validity is with another word the truth. This means that the presented data is the actual primary data and not data filtered through the use in prior researches. This way the risk of losing the original information is eliminated. What intentionally was meant to be asked is in fact included in the research (Silverman, 2006). According to Yin (2003), construct validity concerns establishing correct operational measures for the concepts being studied. The construct validity is a critical parameter especially for case studies, because the gathered data is by nature subjectively interpreted by the researchers. It is the most complex type of validity; it is measuring an instrument to an overall theoretical framework which is used to determine whether the instrument confirms a series of hypotheses derived from an existing and at least partially verified theory (Silverman, 2006). In this Vein, instruments are not assessed in terms of how they relate to any criterion, rather to measures of concepts derived from a broader theory. It also refers to the extent to which measurement of questions actually measure the presence of those constructs intended to measure (Saunders, et al, 2007)

To counteract this threat, the researcher took various sources of evidence including both primary and secondary data into consideration, i.e. applying triangulation. However, the fact that webpages not only from official and worldwide known organizations were included constitutes a potential source for errors. There is the challenge that respondents would be reluctant to reveal certain sensitive information that would be overcome by using right questions in the questionnaire.

30

3.8.2

Reliability

According to Yin (2003), a case study is reliable if it would lead to the same findings and conclusions if another researcher would conduct the study again, i.e. being replicable. Yin (2003) defined the goal of reliability is to minimize the errors and biases in a study. The researcher counteracted low reliability with the concept of triangulation, and carefully documenting the conducted field study for minimizing the risk of misinterpretation. Moreover, the informal and trustful atmosphere during the face-to-face interviews reduced the threat of errors. Due to the above mentioned issues, the Researcher regards the case study to be reliable. If conducted by other researchers again, the same conclusions might be found.

3.9

Scope and Limitation of the Study

The study could not cover all areas in mobile telecommunication because of time constraints. Hence, the scope of this study was focused on customer switching behaviour and its effect on organizational performance. Due to inadequate resources, the study could not cover the large number of the population. However, because sampling could equally bring out the same

outcome, the regional capital of Ashanti region was selected (Kumasi) using a purposive and convenient sampling of one hundred (100) respondents. The major difficulty encountered in the research was the collection of data from customers and staff members. Respondents were reluctant to answer the questionnaire for tight schedule. However, by convincing them finally, the respondents agreed to use their free time to answer the questionnaire.

31

3.9 Profile of Vodafone Vodafone in Ghana is one of the latest additions to Vodafone Group Plc, the world's leading mobile telecommunications company. Vodafone made a successful acquisition of 70% shares in Ghana Telecommunications Company (GT) for $900 million dollars by Vodafone International Plc on July 23, 2008. The company was established after World War II as a wing of the then Post and Telecommunications Corporation. In order for the company to function as a commercially viable entity, it was split into two autonomous divisions by the government of Ghana, Ghana Postal Services and Ghana Telecom. Vodafone is making significant in-roads in Africa and currently operates in Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique through the company's subsidiary undertakings, joint ventures, associated undertakings and investments. Vodafone Group has more than 315 million customers operational in 31 countries; the company is ranked among the top 10 global companies by market capitalization. Vodafone has a unique portfolio of products and services. They provide their customers with high speed access to the internet, mobile services and fixed lines The company has a deep sense of social responsibility. They do this through responsible employee volunteerism, providing access to communication in deprived communities and investing hundreds of thousands of cedis through the Vodafone Ghana Foundation in social causes. Excellent customer care is one of our strengths and we pride ourselves in being the only telecommunications company in Ghana with as many customer service points - situated to meet you at your point of need. Our promise to Ghana is to offer quality service on our network and ensure that you have value for your money. The company was established after World War II as a wing of the then Post and Telecommunications Corporation. In order for the company to function as a commercially viable entity, it was split into two autonomous divisions by the government of Ghana, Ghana Postal Services and Ghana Telecom. Two years later, GT was privatized to G-Com Ltd and subsequently contracted to Telenor Management Partners (TMP) of Norway to manage. A Ghanaian management team then took over the affairs prior to Vodafones acquisition.

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CHAPTER FOUR

DATA PRESENTAION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction

The chapter presents the finding of the study and is tailored along finding solutions to the research questions in order to achieve the objectives of the study. It begins with the profile of responding customers. The main subject of discussion includes the determinant of factors that influence customer switching behaviour; trend in customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom industry; and customer perception about the performance of mobile telecom industry in Ghana. The chapter also discusses the effects of customer switching behaviour on the organizational performance in the telecom industry.

4.2 Profile of the responding customers

The response rate for the study was 71%. To gather background information about the customer of the telecom company, the respondents were asked to indicate their gender, age, educational level, income level and the products of the company they are using. The detail of the outcome is given below.

33

4.2.1 Gender of the respondent Thirty seven of the respondents (52.9%) were males while thirty three (47.1%) are females. Table 4.1 shows the result in detail.
Table 4.1: Gender Frequency Male Female Total Missing Total System 37 33 70 1 71 Percent 52.1 46.5 98.6 1.4 100.0 Valid Percent 52.9 47.1 100.0 Cumulative Percent 52.9 100.0

4.2.2 Age of the respondents

Table 4.2 presents the result of the age of the respondent in detail. Twenty of the respondents were below 25 years while seventeen of the respondents fall between 26 30 years. The respondents that fell above 45 years were eleven. The modal age group of the respondents were those below 25 years.

34

Table 4.2: Age Frequency Valid below 25 26-30 years 31-35 years 36-40 years 41-45 years above 45 years Total 20 17 9 7 7 11 71 Percent 28.2 23.9 12.7 9.9 9.9 15.5 100.0 Valid Percent 28.2 23.9 12.7 9.9 9.9 15.5 100.0 Cumulative Percent 28.2 52.1 64.8 74.6 84.5 100.0

4.2.3 Educational Level All the respondents have had some form of education. Seventeen (23.9%) of the respondents had postgraduate degree while fourteen (19.7%) of the respondents educated up to diploma. Ten of respondents indicated that they have trade qualification. Table 4.3 presents the educational levels of the respondents in detail.
Table 4.3: Highest educational level attained

Frequency Valid basic education secondary education diploma postgraduate degree trade qualification others Total 6 13 14 17 10 11 71

Percent 8.5 18.3 19.7 23.9 14.1 15.5 100.0

Valid Percent 8.5 18.3 19.7 23.9 14.1 15.5 100.0

Cumulative Percent 8.5 26.8 46.5 70.4 84.5 100.0

35

4.2.4 Income level The modal monthly income category of respondents is between GH 100 - GH 399. Twenty four of the respondents indicated that they fell in this income earnings. Table 4.4 presents the result in detail.

Table 4.4: Monthly income level

GH
Valid below 100 100-399 400-699 700-999 1000-1299 Total

Frequency 18 24 16 8 5 71

Percent 25.4 33.8 22.5 11.3 7.0 100.0

Valid Percent 25.4 33.8 22.5 11.3 7.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 25.4 59.2 81.7 93.0 100.0

4.2.5 Product type the customers are using Majority of the respondents, 56.2% indicated that they are using mobile phone service from Vodafone while 9.9% indicated that they are using mobile internet. Additionally, 19.7% indicated that they are using both mobile phone and mobile internet from Vodafone. Figure 4.1 shows the detail of the result.

36

4.3 Profile of the responding Staff 4.3.1 Gender Fifteen of the respondents, representing 75%, were males with five (25%) being female. The resulted proportion demonstrates the number of male staffs is likely to be higher than female staffs. Table 4.6 shows the result in detail.

37

Table4.6: Gender of responding staff

Frequency Valid Male Female Total 15 5 20

Percent 75.0 25.0 100.0

Valid Percent 75.0 25.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 75.0 100.0

4.3.2 Educational Level All the respondents have had tertiary form of education. Table 4.7 presents the educational levels of the respondents in detail.

Table 4.7: Educational level

Frequency Valid Tertiary 20

Percent 100.0

Valid Percent 100.0

Cumulative Percent 100.0

4.3.3 Work experience

Nine of the respondents representing 45% have spent less than a year at Vodafone while 10 of the respondents each representing 50% have spent 1-5 years. Table 4.8 shows the detail of the result.

38

Table 4.8: Number of years worked with the company

Frequency Valid Less than1 year 1-5 years 6-10 years Total 9 10 1 20

Percent 45.0 50.0 5.0 100.0

Valid Percent 45.0 50.0 5.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 45.0 95.0 100.0

4.2.4 Current rank of staffs Eleven of the respondents representing 55% are sales executive officers while seven of the respondents representing 35% are customer service advisor. Two of the respondents were managers. Figure 4.2 shows the result in details.

39

4.4 Factors that influence customers switching behaviour in mobile telecom industry To determine the factors that influence customer switching behavior in mobile telecom industry, multiple items were used to build the construct for the customer switching behaviour. These items include perceived pricing, service failure, inconvenience, ethical problem, change technology, inappropriate employee response and change in social status. These items were found to influence customer switching behaviour elsewhere. All items were measured with fivepoint rating scales, with neutral centre. The details of 1 5 score Likert scale used are presented below: 1 Strongly Disagree: That the respondents strongly disagree with the statement or the issue as it applies to the customer switching behaviour. 2 Disagree: That the respondent disagrees more than he/she agrees with the issue with regards to the customer switching behaviour 3 - Not sure: This means that respondents are not able to give knowledgeable response on the issue. It also denotes a position of neutrality. 4 Agree: The respondent agrees more that she/he disagrees with respect to the statement or issues of the customer switching behaviour. 5 Strongly agree: Respondent strongly agrees with the statement/issue as it applies to the customer switching behaviour. On the basis of the scoring agreement, it could be deduced that an average score below 3 of each component of a subject area denotes a total disagreement with that statement. On the other hand, any average score of more above 3 indicates agreement with the statement.

40

Descriptive statistics were computed for responses to each item. Item means (average) and standard deviations were presented in the table 4.6.

The mean of likelihood of customer switching with reference to the current experience of service provider was 3.66. This is above the 3.00 neutral mark on 1 5 point rating scale. This implies that customer is likely to switch to alternative service provider. The mean score of each item (factor) that may trigger customer switching behaviour were above the neutral pivot on the rating scale with the exception of change in social status which has a mean score of 2.97. The items with mean scores above 3.00 imply that in the opinions of customers they can trigger customer switching behaviour. From table 4.6, the respondents appear to be moderately agreed that the items may serve as factors that can trigger customer switching behaviour in the telecom industry. Among the switching behaviour factors, customer perception on pricing seems to be the item that the customers considered as the most switching factor. This was followed by the inappropriate employee response to service failures and ethical problems in mobile telecom. The least among the items is the change in social status. This may imply that in the opinion of the customers change in one social status may not necessary trigger customer switching behaviour.

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Table 4.9: Descriptive statistics of items

Variable Likelihood of switching Pricing Service failure Inconvenience Ethical problem Change Technology Inappropriate response Change in social status

Obs 71 71 71 71 71 71 71 71

Mean 3.661972 3.873239 3.408451 3.507042 3.774648 3.690141 3.859155 2.971831

Std. Dev. .6957763 .695487 1.141146 .8762459 .6368939 .6674375 .761498 .8614246

--------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------

To establish the influence of each item or factor on the customer switching behaviour, regression analysis was conducted. The regression analysis seeks to establish the relationship, the significant of the relationship and the magnitude of these factors or items on the customer switching behaviour. Table 4.10 presents the result of the regression analysis in detail. The Rsquared in table 4.10 (i.e. the regression model) indicates that 80.76 percent of the variance in customer switching behaviour can be predicted from the explanatory variables pricing, service failure, inconvenience, ethical problem, change technology, inappropriate employee response and change in social status. Again it is worth noting that this is an overall measure of the strength of association, and does not reflect the extent to which any particular independent variable is associated with the dependent variable. Also the F-statistics prove the efficiency of the estimated model at 0.05 level of significance.

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Table 4.10: Regression model

Source Model Residual Total SS 27.3676488 6.51967516 33.8873239 df 7 63 70 MS 3.90966411 .103486907 .484104628 Number of obs = F( 7, 63) = = = = Prob > F R-squared Root MSE 71 37.78 0.0000 0.8076 0.7862 .32169

-------------+-------------------------

-------------+-------------------------

Adj R-squared =

--------------------------------------------------------------------csb pricing Coef. .0452173 Std. Err. .0817169 .0709483 .0520938 .0901614 .1008199 .0674078 .0509255 .635302 t 0.55 5.27 1.84 2.27 1.02 4.73 1.49 -1.16 P>|t| 0.582 0.000 0.070 0.026 0.311 0.000 0.140 0.252 [95% Conf. Interval] -.1180809 .2320915 -.0081604 .0249272 -.0984395 .1841963 -.0256436 -2.0048 .2085155 .515649 .2000421 .3852735 .3045055 .4536039 .1778895 .5342999 -------------+------------------------------------------------------servicefai~e .3738703 inconvenie~e .0959409 ethicalpro~m .2051003 technology status _cons .103033 .0761229 -.7352499 inappropri~e .3189001

---------------------------------------------------------------------

From table 4.10, there is a statistically insignificant and a positive relationship between customer switching behaviour and customer perception on pricing of products or services. This indicates that a higher pricing perceived by customers may enhance the likelihood of customer switching behaviour. This finding is consistent with Peng and Wang (2006). They suggested that a higher pricing perceived by customers might negatively influence their purchase probabilities. Customers are likely to be attracted by perceived high quality services at perceived competitive prices during the searching process. The magnitude of the coefficient of 0.045 of the perceived price variable implies that an increase in the perceived price by a unit is associated with a
43

likelihood of customer switching by 4.5%. However, since the relationship is statistically not significance the influence of pricing can be as a result of chance.

In the case of core service failure, there is statistically significant and a positive relation with customer switching behaviour. This indicates that the chances of customer switching increases when core service failure occur. Core service failure includes all critical incidents that were due to mistakes or technical problems with the service itself. The magnitude of the coefficient of 0.374 of the core service failure variable implies that an incident of core service failure is associated with a likelihood of customer switching by 37.4%.

The positive value of the coefficient for customer inconvenience with the service provider indicates the positive relationship between the likelihood of customer switching and inconvenience with the service provider but the relationship is statistically insignificant. The positive relationship implies that an incident of cause customer inconvenience may lead to the likelihood of customer switching the service provider. The result of the regression reveal a positive relationship and statistically significant between ethical problem and likelihood of customer switching service provider. This suggests that service provider with ethical problems will have lead to the likelihood of customer switching behaviour.

The result concerning change in technology shows a positively relation customer switching behaviour but the relationship is statistically insignificant. The result may imply that the rapid change in technology may enhance the likelihood of customer switching. The outcome concerning

inappropriate employee response to service failure and change in social status, the results of this
44

study show positive relations with both cases with likelihood of customer switching behaviour. While in the case of inappropriate employee response to service failure, the relationship is statistically significant, it is insignificant in change in social status. Among the factors that can trigger the customer switching behaviour, core service failure, ethical problems and inappropriate employee response to service failure were found to significantly influence the likelihood of customer switching. Perceived price, customer inconvenience with the service provider, rapid change in technology and change in social status influence are statistically insignificant and therefore their influence on likelihood of customer switching may be as a result of chance.

4.5 Trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom To ascertain the trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom company, the respondents were asked whether they have ever switched from one mobile telecommunication network to the other before. Forty five (63.4%) indicated that they have switched to another service provider before. This implied that customer switching behaviour is prevalent in the mobile telecom industry in Ghana. Table 4.11 shows the result in detail.
Table 4.11: Have you ever switched from one mobile telecommunication network to the other

Response
Yes No Total

Frequency 45 26 71

Percent 63.4 36.6 100.0

Valid Percent 63.4 36.6 100.0

Cumulative Percent 63.4 100.0

45

Another observation is that customers add a different network to their current network when they are not satisfied with the service providers service. About forty seven percent indicated this. Figure 4.3 presents the details.

4.6 Customers perception about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana
46

The customer perception about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in was assessed using Likert scale similar to the one reported earlier. Respondents (customers) were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree to the various statements relating to performance about Telecom Company. On the basis of the scoring agreement, it was deduced that an average score below 3 of each component of a subject area denotes a total disagreement with that statement. On the other hand, any average score of more above 3 indicates agreement with the statement.

4.6.1 Whether telecom companies is making profit

Majority of the respondents agreed to the statement that mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit. Nineteen (26.8%) of the respondents either disagreed or strongly disagree with the statement that that mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit while 8 (11.3%) were not sure. Forty four (62%) of the respondents either agreed or strongly agreed to the statement that that mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit. The wide-spread acceptance of the statement was confirmed by the mean (median) score of 3.37 (4.00) on a scale of 1 5 with a wide standard deviation of 1.38. Table 4.12 presents the result in detail.

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Table 4.12: In my opinion, mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit

Frequency strongly disagree disagree not sure agree strongly agree Total 13 6 8 30 14 71 3.37 4.00 1.38

Percent 18.3 8.5 11.3 42.3 19.7 100.0

Valid Percent 18.3 8.5 11.3 42.3 19.7 100.0

Cumulative Percent 18.3 26.8 38.0 80.3 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

4.6.2 Whether telecom companies is doing well in corporate social responsibility There seems to be an indifferent position about the customer perception about telecom companies corporate social responsibility. Thirty six (50.7%) of the respondents either strongly disagree or disagree or not sure with the statement that telecom companies is doing well in corporate social responsibility. Whilst the mean (3.10) slightly tilts towards an Agree side, the median (3.00) is neutral. The detailed results however points to an Agree side with 35 (49.3%) of the respondents as against 23 (32.4%) for disagree. Table 4.13 presents the result in detail. On this basis telecom companies are doing well in corporate social responsibility.

48

Table 4.13: Whether mobile telecom industry is performing well in terms of corporate social responsibility

Frequency Valid strongly disagree disagree not sure agree strongly agree Total 12 11 13 28 7 71 3.10 3.00 1.27

Percent 16.9 15.5 18.3 39.4 9.9 100.0

Valid Percent 16.9 15.5 18.3 39.4 9.9 100.0

Cumulative Percent 16.9 32.4 50.7 90.1 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

4.6.3 Extent of telecom industry contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana The study found that customers perceived that telecom industry is making a meaningful contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana. Although about one third (33.8%) of the respondents disagree to the statement of the meaningful contribution of socioeconomic development, majority of the respondents (54.9%) agree to the statement. Only 11.3% of the respondents were not sure of the statement. The majority agreement was confirmed by the mean (median) value of 3.21 (4.00) which lies in the general agreement range of the 1 5 score scale. Table 4.14 presents the result in detail.

49

Table 4.14: Contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana is high Cumulative Frequency strongly disagree disagree not sure agree strongly agree Total 9 15 8 30 9 71 3.21 4.00 1.27 Percent 12.7 21.1 11.3 42.3 12.7 100.0 Valid Percent 12.7 21.1 11.3 42.3 12.7 100.0 Percent 12.7 33.8 45.1 87.3 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

4.7 Effects of customer switching behavior on the organizational performance To ascertain effect of customer switching behavior (CSB) on the organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana, respondents (staffs) were asked to indicate their position on the statements that CSB affect firms earning and profits, market share and reputation and image. The effect was ascertained using Likert scale similar to the one reported earlier. Table 4.15, table 4.16 and table 4.17 present the outcome in detail.

4.7.1 Firms earnings and profit

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Of the twenty staffs sampled for the study, only one (5%) was not sure that CSB may reduce firms earnings and profit the remaining nineteen (95%) agree that CSB may reduce firms earnings and profit. The general acceptance of the statement was demonstrated in the mean (median) score of 4.55 (5.00) on the rating scale of 1 5 denoting that CSB may reduce firms earnings and profit. Table 4.15 shows the result in detail. The result is consistent with Keaveney and Parthasarathy (2005) findings. They found that customers switching behaviour reduces firms earnings and profits.

Table 4.15: In my opinion, CSB may reduce firms earning and profits

Frequency Valid not sure agree strongly agree Total 1 7 12 20 4.55 5.00 0.60

Percent 5.0 35.0 60.0 100.0

Valid Percent 5.0 35.0 60.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 5.0 40.0 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

4.7.2 Company market share On the issue of effect of CSB on company market share, all the respondents (100%) indicated that CSB may reduce company market share. Table 4.16 presents the result in detail. This observation is consistent with Reichheld & Sassers (2003) study that customer defection is seen

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as having a stronger ability to impact on revenue than on scale, market share, unit costs, and other factors that are usually associated with competitive advantage.
Table 4.16: In my opinion, CSB may reduce the company market share

Frequency Valid agree strongly agree Total 11 9 20 4.45 4.00 0.51

Percent 55.0 45.0 100.0

Valid Percent 55.0 45.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 55.0 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

4.7.3 Reputation and image of the company

Diane (2004) indicated that customer switching can bring negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt a service providers reputation and image. The findings of this study support this observation. This was demonstrated by a mean (median) score of 4.20 (4.00) on the rating scale 1 5 denoting that customer switching can bring negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt a service providers reputation and image. Table 4.17 presents the result in detail.

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Table 4.17: CSB may result in negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt reputation and image

Frequency Valid strongly disagree not sure agree strongly agree disagree Total 1 1 11 6 1 20 4.20 4.00 1.00

Percent 5.0 5.0 55.0 30.0 5.0 100.0

Valid Percent 5.0 5.0 55.0 30.0 5.0 100.0

Cumulative Percent 5.0 10.0 65.0 95.0 100.0

Mean: Median: Standard Deviation:

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CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Introduction

This chapter been the last chapter outlined the summary of research findings. The chapter also concludes the study with appropriate recommendations. 5.2 Summary of findings 5.2.1 Factors that influence customers switching behaviour in mobile telecom industry The result of the study shows that among the factors that have been found to trigger the customer switching behaviour in telecom company in else, in the case of Ghana core service failure, ethical problems and inappropriate employee response to service failure are found to significantly influence the likelihood of customer switching. Perceived price, customer inconvenience with the service provider, rapid change in technology and change in social status influence are statistically insignificant and therefore their influence on likelihood of customer switching may be as a result of chance.

5.2.2. Trend of customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom The outcome of the study shows that customer switching behaviour in mobile telecom company is prevalent in the mobile telecom industry in Ghana. Forty five (63.4%) indicated that they have switched to another service provider before. Moreover, the study found out that customers add a

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different network to their current network when they are not satisfied with the service providers service.

5.2.3 Customers perception about the performance of the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana The outcome of the study shows that customers perceived that mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit. Forty four (62%) of the respondents agreed to the statement that mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit. The widespread acceptance of the statement was confirmed by the mean (median) score of 3.37 (4.00).

Customers also perceived that telecom companies is doing well in corporate social responsibility although the mean (3.10) was slightly tilts towards an Agree side and the median (3.00) at the neutral point. The detailed results points to an agree side with 35 (49.3%) of the respondents as against 23 (32.4%) for disagree. The study found that customers perceived that telecom industry is making a meaningful contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana. Majority of the respondents (54.9%) agree to the statement. The majority agreement was confirmed by the mean (median) value of 3.21 (4.00) which lies in the general agreement range of the 1 5 score scale. 5.2.4 Effects of customer switching behavior on the organizational performance

The outcome of the study ascertained that customer switching behaviour (CSB) may reduce firms earnings and profit. This was supported by 95% of the responding staffs. The general acceptance of the statement was demonstrated in the mean (median) score of 4.55 (5.00) on the rating scale of 1 5 denoting that CSB may reduce firms earnings and profit.
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The result of the study shows that CSB reduce company market share. This was supported by the mean (median) score of 4.45 (4.00) on the rating scale. The outcome of the study also indicated that customer switching bring negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt a service providers reputation and image. This was demonstrated by a mean (median) score of 4.20 (4.00) on the rating scale 1 5 denoting that customer switching can bring negative word-of-mouth advertising which can hurt a service providers reputation and image.

5.3 Conclusions

The study attempts to explore the effect of customer switching behaviour on organizational performance in the mobile telecommunication industry in Ghana. To appreciate the research issues raised in the study and to place the relevant literature in context, as well as to generalize the study to some extent, a thorough review of the literature was made. The outcome of the study indicates that in Ghana core service failure, ethical problems and inappropriate employee response to service failure are found to significantly influence the likelihood of customer switching. Perceived price, customer inconvenience with the service provider, rapid change in technology and change in social status may not influence the likelihood of customer switching because their influence are not statistically significant therefore if any influence on likelihood of customer switching may be as a result of chance. On the trend of customers switching behaviour, majority was found to be switching to another service provider and those who are not switching are adding new service provider. The study found out that
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customers perceived the mobile telecom company to be making good profit and also contribute to socioeconomic development of Ghana. Finally, the outcome of the study indicated that customer switching behaviour reduce earnings and profit of firms, reduce market share and also negatively affect the reputation and image of the mobile telecom company in Ghana.

5.4 Recommendations

The study should be extended other countries in the sub-regions especially where mobile telecommunication companies are operating to compare the result especially on the factors that influence customer switching behaviour. Also similar study should be carry out in Ghana in other sector of the economy. This is to ascertain whether the finding of this study is what pertains in the other sector of the economy. The following are some suggested recommendations to mobile telecommunication companies as a follow-up of the study: They should measure in place to minimize core service failures. Core service failure has been found to enhance customer switching behaviour. Core service failure includes billing errors, service mistakes and service catastrophes. Telecom companies should be mindful of ethical problems as it has been found to encourage customer switching behaviour. Telecom companies should make sure employee respond appropriate to service failure. This will reduce customer switching behaviour.
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References Anneta Sidhu, (2005) Canadian cellular industry, consumer switching behaviour, Simon fraser University. Donney P. and Connon J. (2002) Trust in Buyer-Seller Relationship Journal of Marketing Vol 16 April, 2002 Descombe, M (2000) The Good Research Guide, for Small Scale Social research projects. Open University Press, Buckingham Philadelphia.

Gronroos C (2002) From marketing mix to relationship marketing: towards a paradigm, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 10. pp. 347-60 Emerald: Marketing intelligence and planning. Vol 23 No 3 2005 Emerul Group Publishing Limited. Kotler P. (2000), Marketing Management, 8th ed. Prentice-Hall International. Inc. Kotler, P. & Amstrong, G. (2008). Principles of Marketing. 12th Edition. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Sheth, J.N., Parvatiyar (2000): Relationship marketing in consumer markets: antecedents and consequences, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23 No. 4, pp. 255-71 Roos, I. & Gustafsson, A. (2007), page 102. Understanding Frequent Switching Patterns. Journal of Service Research 10 (1) 93- 108.

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Gustafsson, A., Johnson, M.D. & Roos, I. (2005). The Effects of Customer Satisfaction, Relationship Commitment Dimensions, and Triggers on Customer Retention. Journal of Marketing Vol. 69 (October 2005), 210218. Sam Akomea (2009) Marketing Management (MCS 552) Students Handout. Department of Marketing and Corporate Strategy, KNUST School of Business, KNUST Kumasi.

Parasuraman, A., Valarie A. Zeithaml and Leonard L. Berry, 1988. SERVQUAL: A MultipleItem Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality. Journal of Retailing, Vol. 64, 1, pp. 12-40.

Keaveny, S. & Parthasarathy, M. (2005). Customer switching behaviour in online services: An exploratory study of the role of selected attitudinal behaviour, and demographic factors. Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 29(4), 374-390.

Elabi, T. Irani, Z. Paul, RJ & Love, P.E.D (2002); Quantitative and Qualitative decision making methods, Management Decision, Vol, 40, No. 1

Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2007) Research Methods for Business Students, The UK: Pearson Education Limited. Yin, R. K. (2003) Case Study Research, 3rd edn. London, England: Sage Publications Zikmund, W (2000), Business Research Methods, Sixth edition, The Dryden Press.
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Roos, I., Edvardsson, B. & Gustafsson, A. (2004). Customer Switching Patterns in Competitive and Non-competitive Service Industries. Journal of Service research 2004; 6; 256. Silverman, D. (2006). Doing Qualitative Research A practical handbook. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Zeithaml, V. (2005) Customer satisfaction and loyalty in service: Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Volume 15, Issue 3, Pages 156-162

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APPENDICES

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Please kindly take some time off your busy schedule to respond to these questionnaires which are being used for academic purposes. The confidentiality of any information given is assured. Topic: EFFECT OF CUSTOMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION IN GHANA. CASE STUDY OF VODAFONE GHANA LIMITED. Thank you. Questionnaire for Vodafone Customers Please tick the appropriate answer to the under listed questions. Please tick the appropriate answer to the under listed questions and write unrestrictedly to the open questions.

SECTION A: SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHICS 1. Age: [1] Below 25 [2] 26 30 [3] 31 35 2. Sex: [1] Male [2] Female [4] 36 40 [5] 41 45 [6] Above 45

3. Highest Educational Level Attained: [1] Basic education [2] Secondary education [3] Diploma [5] Degree [6] Postgraduate degree [7] Trade qualification [7] Other (specify) . 4. Monthly income level in Ghana Cedis: [1] Below 100 [2] 100-399 [3] 400699 700-999 [5] 1000-1299 [6] Equals to/More than 1300 [4]

SECTION B: TREND IN CUSTOMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR 5. Which product or products did you purchase? [1] Mobile Broadband Internet Service [3] Mobile Desk Phone

[2] Mobile Service Voice [4] Others. Please specify:.

6. How often do you use the product(s)/service(s)? [1] Every day [2] In days [3] Weekly [4] Every 2 3 times a month
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[5] Monthly or more 7. When did you purchase the named products from Vodafone? [1]Less than one year [2] 1 3 years [3] 3 5 years [4] 5 - 8 years [5] More than 8 years 8. Have you ever switched from one mobile telecommunication network to the other? [1] Yes [2] No

9. What action do you think customers take when they are not satisfied with the service of Telecom Company? [1] Switch to different network [2] Add a different network [3] Other (Please specify) 10. Please give reason(s) to your answer to question 9

SECTION C: CUSTOMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR (CSB) FACTORS 11. Please indicate the extent to which you agree to the statement as it applies to your experience with Vodafone. Tick appropriate scale from 1 to 5, where 1 means strongly disagree; 2 means disagree; three measure not sure; 4 means agree and 5 means strongly agree. Indicate N/A for statement that is not applicable. The statements relate to factors that may influence customer switching behavior. Statement Change in social status may trigger CSB Pricing level can trigger CSB Core service failure (e.g. billing errors) can trigger CSB Customer inconvenience with service provider (e.g. waiting for service) can trigger CSB Ethical problem on the part of service provider can trigger CSB Change in technology can trigger CSB Inappropriate employee response to
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Strongly Disagree Not disagree sure

Agree Strongly N/A agree

service failure can trigger CSB 12. With reference to your experience with Vodafone on the above switching behavior factors you may switch to other telecom company [1] Not very likely [2] Not likely [3] Not sure [4] Likely [5] Very likely SECTION D: CUSTOMER PERCEPTION ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY IN GHANA 13. Please indicate the extent to which you agree to the statements relating the general performance of mobile telecom industry in Ghana. Statement Strongly Disagree Not Agree Strongly N/A disagree sure agree In my opinion, mobile telecom industry is performing well by making a good profit In my opinion, mobile telecom industry is growing by their coverage In my opinion, mobile telecom industry is performing well in terms of their corporate social responsibility In all, mobile telecom industry contribution to socioeconomic development of Ghana is high 14. In your opinion, your switch may reduce the profitability the company [1] Strongly disagree [2] Disagree [3] Not sure [4] Agree [5] Strongly agree

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KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Please kindly take some time off your busy schedule to respond to these questionnaires which are being used for academic purposes. The confidentiality of any information given is assured. Topic: EFFECT OF CUSTOMER SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE IN THE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION IN GHANA. CASE STUDY OF VODAFONE GHANA LIMITED. Thank you. Questionnaire for Vodafone Staff Please tick the appropriate answer to the under listed questions. Profile of Respondents 1. What is your status/position in the organisation? [a] Director [b] Manager [c] Sales representative [d] Others...........................................................................................................

2. Indicate your gender. [a] Male [b] Female 3. What is your educational level? [a] Tertiary [b] Secondary School [c] Basic School
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[d].Others.................................................................................................................. 4. How long have you worked with this company? [a] Less than 1 year [b] 1 5 years [c] 6 10 years [d] Above 10 years

5. Which department do you belong? [a] Marketing [b] Accounting and finance [c] Operations [d] Any others......................................................................................................... 6. Do you notify your customers when there is disruption of service? [a] Yes [b] No [c] Sometimes 7. Do your customers switch from your network to other networks? [ ] Yes No [ ]

If yes, can you please give some reasons why they switch? ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................
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............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................

8. In your opinion, can you please give the trend of customer switching behaviour in your organisation? ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ....................................................................................................................... ................................................................................................................................................ 9. What are some of the measures you have putting in place to check and prevent your customers from switching your net work to others?

............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ........................................................................................................................ ................................................................................................................................................ 10. What are some of the measures you have putting in place to check if customers get value for their money? ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ....................................................................................................................... ...............................................................................................................................................

11. How would you rate the performance of your organisation? [a] Excellent
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[b] Very good [c] Good [d] Poor

12. Do you have any criteria for measuring your organisations performance? [ ] Yes If yes, how? ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................ No [ ]

13. Please indicate the extent to which you agree to the statements relating the effect of customer switching behavior (CSB) on the organizational performance in mobile telecom industry in Ghana. Statement Strongly Disagree Not disagree sure Agree Strongly N/A agree

In my opinion, CSB may reduce firms earning and profits In my opinion, CSB may reduce the company market share In my opinion, CSB may increase operational cost CSB may result in negative word-ofmouth advertising which can hurt reputation and image
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14. In your own opinion, can you make recommendation(s) as to how mobile telecommunication industries in Ghana can improve their performances?

................................................................................................................................................ ............................................................................................................................................................ ....................................................................................................................................

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