Predictions from an Empirical Study in the Turkish Mobile Telecommunications Market on the Determinants of Mobile Customer Churn
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Keywords
Churn, Subscriber loss, Churn prediction, Switching, Customer retention
Abstract
Acquiring new customers compared to holding the existing ones is costlier and more troublesome for businesses, so customer retention is of great importance in today's intensely competitive environment. It is crucial in customer relations management to identify and analyse customers whose loyalty decreases and who tend to leave, and prevent churn through various methods under resource constraints. This issue is especially prominent in the mobile communication market. This paper uses a binomial logit model based on a survey with 637 mobile users in Turkey to determine the factors affecting customer churn and how they find their effect. Results indicate that, among various factors, network quality, billing, tariff level, tariff plan, and education level are the determinants affecting customer churn and associated with the intention to switch. Our findings demonstrate implications for both managers and rule-makers in the mobile telecommunications sector.
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Mustafa Çağrı Sucu, KTO Karatay University
Mustafa Çağrı SUCU, received BSc degree in Management Engineering from the Istanbul Technical University, Turkey, in 2002 and currently a Ph.D. student in Business Administration from the KTO Karatay University, Turkey. He currently works as manager for a private company in telecommunications sector and has almost 16 years of industry experience. His current research interests include the mobile telecommunication sector and digital marketing. He has deep knowledge of sales, marketing, and technology and business development in the telecommunications industry, especially profound experience in the mobile business.
Cagatay Unusan, KTO Karatay University
(Prof Dr) Cagatay UNUSAN started his academic career in 1987 as a research assistant at Selcuk University, Department of Business Administration. In 1988, he completed his Master's Degree (MBA) in Selcuk University, Institute of Social Sciences, Department of Business Administration. He was sent to the University of Nottingham, England by the Higher Education Institution to do his PhD in Marketing and received the title of Doctor of Marketing Science (Ph.D.) in 1992. He became Assistant Professor in 1993, Associate Professor in 1995, and Professor in 2001 at the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Selcuk University. Çağatay ÜNÜSAN has published many articles in Turkey which are respected in his field and abroad such as the Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Marketing Channels, Journal of Euro marketing. He has 4 books published in the field of marketing and is the author of the chapter on franchising in the book "Drivers of Global Business Success" published by Routledge Publishing in England. Cagatay UNUSAN is currently the Vice Rector of KTO Karatay University.
