Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73233
Title: The effects of consumer inertia and price sensitivity on purchasing behaviour within the Maltese telecommunications industry
Authors: Abela, Jean (2020)
Keywords: Consumer behavior -- Malta
Telecommunication -- Malta
Internet service providers -- Malta
Issue Date: 2020
Citation: Abela, J. (2020). The effects of consumer inertia and price sensitivity on purchasing behaviour within the Maltese telecommunications industry (Master's dissertation).
Abstract: This dissertation aims to provide a holistic view of consumer perceptions towards local telecommunications services providers. The main scope of this is to gain insight into the purchasing behaviours of the Maltese consumer, particularly when affected by price sensitivity and inertia. To answer this, three research questions were formulated. These related to measuring the levels of price sensitivity, and the levels of inertia present in the Maltese consumer. The final research question aimed to glean some insight into the best way to segment the consumer base, based on their attitudes. The ultimate aim for this research was to provide a platform from which future research can be conducted, that would span across to different local service sectors aside from the telecommunications industry. The main telecommunications services providers in the local industry were identified to be Go, Melita, and Vodafone. Five main concepts were identified as having an impact on consumer perception of companies in similar industries. These are inertia, price-sensitivity, segmentation, loyalty, and service quality. Through these, the switching intention of consumers was also identified. Academic literature explains these concepts in detail, through which the methodology was formulated and structured. An online survey was developed to measure these concepts with regards to consumer perceptions of the providers across the three services: mobile, home internet, and television. Consumer attitudes towards each of these organisations were recorded to be very similar among the three different providers and the three service offerings. This research showed that there were high levels of inertia, and low levels of switching behaviour across the sample used. In contrast to expectations, no correlation was found between inertial behaviour and switching behaviour in the sample pool. Additionally, no correlation was found between consumer attitudes and their length of use of the service, or whether they were subscribed to a bundle plan. With this, however, the sampling method used was not truly random in nature, and so the results could not be extrapolated and generalised to the larger Maltese population. Although this research cannot be generalised to the larger population, key insights were still attained. Primarily, the confirmation of an effective scale used to measure switching behaviour, as well as suggestions to improve the inertia measurement scale used. Additionally, other findings in this study do merit further research, such as identifying the most important aspects of service quality that practitioners should focus on.
Description: M.SC.STRATEGIC MANGT.&MARKETING
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/73233
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacEma - 2020
Dissertations - FacEMAMar - 2020

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