Consumer-Related Corporate Social Responsibility and Brand Switching Behaviour of Subscribers of Mobile Network Providers in Akure Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria

Abstract

In Nigeria, mobile telecom subscribers have suffered untold hardship in terms of poor service quality they receive from their service operators. These are often reflected in the deluge of complaints received by the National Communications Commission (NCC) which include: unsolicited promotion messages, outright truncated calls, mediocre data services, opaque charges, poor audio quality and lines joining, among other complaints. This has made switching a common phenomenon among subscribers of network providers in the Nigeria telecommunications industry. The study examined customer-related corporate social responsibility (CSR) and other factors influencing brand switching behaviour of subscribers of network providers in Akure metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria. The population of the study consisted subscribers in Akure metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data was the major source of data collection for the study. Convenience and cluster sampling techniques were adopted to select Five Banks from Akure metropolis while a well structured questionnaire was designed to elicit responses from both staff and customers of the selected Banks.

A total of 230 copies of questionnaire were designed and administered on the staff and some customers of the selected banks who were subscribers of four major network providers – MTN, GLO mobile, Airtel and Etisalat, in Akure, metropolis. Descriptive statistics and Logistic Regression model were the techniques used to analyze the data collected. Findings of the study revealed that consumer-related CSR, network signal quality, fair pricing/call charges and promotional startegies have statistical significant effect on the switching behaviour of the customers. The study concluded that customer-related CSR, network signal quality, Fair pricing/Call charges and promotional strategy significantly influence the consumers to switch from one mobile line to another. The study recommended that customer-related CSR should be embraced by the network providers while also embarking on aggressive promotional strategies such as provision of offers and discounts, free data bundle, airtime bonus and so on, at regular interval to target those who influence consumers to switch their networks from one to another, most especially, relatives and friends so as to enhance profitability of their ventures..