The Millennials as Stayers versus Switchers: The Context of Mobile Phone Services in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the nature of the behavioral aspects of the Millennials in terms of loyal and switching behavior as reference to the mobile phone services subscription. The study was conducted in two stages. At the initial stage, a customer survey was conducted with a sample of 521 respondents to identify the nature of retention and switching behaviour of the Millennials in the context of mobile phone services. The comprehensive analysis of customer responses extended the study to the second stage which involved in focus group discussions to probe the perceptions towards the decision of remaining loyal or switching and identify the nature and characteristics of each type of customer. Accordingly, the triangulation research approach involving both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods was adopted to achieve the desired objectives of the study. The study is significant as it evaluates the nature of the behaviour of the Millennials in the context of remaining versus switching and presents a semantic profile of customers with four types of loyalty namely fanatic, satisfied, brand loyal and captive and four types of switchers namely convenience seeker, discontented customer, variety seeker and price-conscious customer with respect to the mobile phone services industry.