Editorial Board __________________________________________________________________________________________
Dr. Kari Jabbour, Ph.D
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American College of Technology,
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ABB Australia Pvt. Ltd., Australia.
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Chief Scientist
Advanced Materials Technology Department
Institute of Minerals & Materials Technology
Bhubaneswar, India
PROF.Dr. Sharath Babu,LLM Ph.D
Dean. Faculty Of Law,
Karnatak University Dharwad,
Karnataka, India
Dr.SM Kadri, MBBS,MPH/ICHD,
FFP Fellow, Public Health Foundation of India
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Kashmir, India
Dr.Bhumika Talwar, BDS
Research Officer
State Institute of Health & Family Welfare
Jaipur, India
Dr. Tej Pratap Mall Ph.D
Head, Postgraduate Department of Botany,
Kisan P.G. College, Bahraich, India.
Dr. Arup Kanti Konar, Ph.D
Associate Professor of Economics Achhruram,
Memorial College,
SKB University, Jhalda,Purulia,
West Bengal. India
Dr. S.Raja Ph.D
Research Associate,
Madras Research Center of CMFR ,
Indian Council of Agricultural Research,
Chennai, India
Dr. Vijay Pithadia, Ph.D,
Director - Sri Aurobindo Institute of Management
Rajkot, India.
Er. R. Bhuvanewari Devi M.Tech, MCIHT
Highway Engineer, Infrastructure,
Ramboll, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Sanda Maican, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher,
Department of Ecology, Taxonomy and Nature Conservation
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Dr.Damarla Bala Venkata Ramana
Senior Scientist
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA)
Hyderabad, A.P, India
PROF.Dr.S.V.Kshirsagar,M.B.B.S, M.S
Head - Department of Anatomy,
Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences,
Karnataka, India.
DR ASIFA NAZIR, M.B.B.S, MD
Assistant Professor Dept of Microbiology
Government Medical College, Srinagar, India.
Dr.AmitaPuri, Ph.D
Officiating Principal
Army Inst. Of Education
New Delhi, India
Dr. Shobana Nelasco Ph.D
Associate Professor,
Fellow of Indian Council of Social Science
Research (On Deputation},
Department of Economics,
Bharathidasan University, Trichirappalli. India
M. Suresh Kumar, PHD
Assistant Manager,
Godrej Security Solution,
India.
Dr.T.Chandrasekarayya,Ph.D
Assistant Professor,
Dept Of Population Studies & Social Work,
S.V.University, Tirupati, India.
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MINDSET OF CLIENTELE TOWARDS THE PRACTICE OF CELLULAR PHONES
DR. (MRS.) S. BANUMATHY*
DR. (MRS.) M. SUBASINI**
*Head & Associate Professor, Dept. of Commerce, V.V.Vanniaperumal College For Women, Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, India
**Assistant Professor, Dept. of Business Administration, V.V.Vanniaperumal College For Women, Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu, India
ABSTRACT
The success of any business not only depends upon the effective
administration of the management and hard work and sincerity of the employees. It
depends upon the clientele. Clientele is a pivot around which the whole business
activity revolves in many ways. Thus, the clientele assumes greatest significance in
any developing or developed country as economic activities centers around him. In
the modern world, communication connects the people wherever they are. It is
possible only due to innovation of latest communication tools. In an ancient period,
people passed the messages by sending the ambassadors and using some birds. After
that period, letters and telegram were considered as an effective communication
devices. Now a day, cellular phones play a dominant role in the communication field.
The present study is confined to three service providers viz., BSNL, Airtel and Aircel.
Even though there are many services providers in the cellular industry, these three
services are considered as the giants according to their performance and volume of
business. Hence, the study focus on the above said service providers.
INTRODUCTION
The success of any business not only depends upon the effective
administration of the management and hard work and sincerity of the employees. It
depends upon the clientele. Clientele is a pivot around which the whole business
activity revolves in many ways. Thus, the clientele assumes greatest significance in
any developing or developed country as economic activities centers around him.
Understanding the behaviour of the clientele in the target market is the essential task
of marketing managers. The clientele market consists of all the households and
individuals who buy goods and services for their personal use. Clientele may differ in
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income, education level, taste and age. So, it is necessary for the marketers to divide clientele into various groups and develop products or services designed to suit their needs.
Statement of the problem
In the modern world, communication connects the people wherever they are. It
is possible only due to innovation of latest communication tools. In an ancient period,
people passed the messages by sending the ambassadors and using some birds. After
that period, letters and telegram were considered as an effective communication
devices. Now a day, cellular phones play a dominant role in the communication field.
The cellular phone companies provide variety of facilities in a cell phone. The service
providers also offer fruitful schemes to attract the consumers. The clientele can carry
a mobile phone easily with them. They can listen to music, text and play games. The
cellular phones have a facility of calculator and a phone book. The clientele can surf
Internet and connect with the whole world by cellular phone. Hence, an attempt has
been made to study the mindset of the clientele towards the practice of cellular phone.
Scope of the study
The present study is confined to three service providers viz., BSNL, Airtel and
Aircel. Even though there are many services providers in the cellular industry, these
three services are considered as the giants according to their performance and volume
of business. Hence, the study focus on the above said service providers.
Review of literature
Banumathy and Kalaivani (2004) stated in their study “Attitude of customers
towards Cell phones” that more awareness have to be given to the customers by
service providers while introducing new technologies. Celebrity advertisements
influence the customers to a large extent. The service providers have to introduce the
cellular phones which are economical to the low income group people.
Chitra Vanitha (2009) concluded in the study “Consumer Behaviour towards
Mobile phones” that the cellular phone companies should study the behaviour of the
consumers while marketing their products. When they estimate the preferences of the
customers in a right manner, they can stand in the market. Otherwise they wash out
form the market.
Divya (2010) pointed out in the study “Strategies of Cellular Phones
Companies” that the cellular phone companies should concentrate on the activities of
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the competitors. Effective strategies should be implemented to face the competitions.
When they monitor the activities of the competitors and redesign their strategies, they
should have a bright and prosperous future.
Arun Kumar (2011) suggested in the study “Marketing Practices of Cellular
phone Companies” that advertising campaigns may be improved in order to cover the
new customers and to retain the existing customers. As advertisement influences the purchase behaviour of the consumers, exaggerations in advertisements should be avoided.
Objectives of the study
The important objectives of the study are as follows:
To Study the origin and development Cellular phone companies.
To analyse the mindset of the clientele towards the practice of cellular phones.
To offer suggestions on the basis of findings of the study.
Research Methodology
The present study is based on both primary and secondary data. The primary
data has been gathered from 900 cellular phone users through well structured
questionnaire by adopting convenience sampling technique. The secondary data has
been collected from books, journals, magazines, websites and encyclopaedias. The
primary data has been analysed by using mean, standard deviation, percentage
analysis, Likert’s five point scaling technique and Kruskal Wallis test.
Analytical framework
Likerts’ five point scaling technique has been adopted to obtain the responses
from the respondents regarding cellular phones. Mean and standard deviation are
found out to measure the level of satisfaction. Kruskal Wallis test has been employed
to compare the performance of service providers.
In order to measure the level of satisfaction of the respondents towards
usage pattern of cellular phones, ten statements have been framed. These statements
are related to broadband, price, coverage, validity and dimensions of service.
The level of satisfaction of the respondents towards the practice of cellular
phones has been classified into three categories viz., low level, medium level and
high level, for analytical purpose. Likert’s five point scaling technique is used to
determine the level of satisfaction. If the score values are greater than X + S.D., it
has been taken as high level satisfaction towards the usage pattern of cellular
phones. If the score values are less than X - S.D., it has been taken as low level
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satisfaction towards the usage pattern of cellular phones. The difference between
X + S.D. and X - S.D., has been classified as medium level satisfaction towards the
usage pattern of cellular phones.
Here, X = Arithmetic mean and
S.D. = Standard deviation
The level of satisfaction has been derived from the mean score values of the
900 respondents. The calculated values of X and S.D. are 420.44 and 65.18
respectively.
Therefore,
X + S.D. = 420.44+65.18 = 486 and above – High level
X - S.D. = 420.44-65.18 = 355 and below – Low level
( X + S.D.) to ( X - S.D.) = 355 to 486 – Medium level
The formula used for Kruskal Wallis test is:
12/n (n+1) (∑Ri2/nj) – 3 (n+1)
BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED (BSNL)
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is an Indian State-owned
telecommunications company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is the largest
provider of fixed telephony and fourth largest mobile telephony provider in India and
is also a provider of broadband services. BSNL is India's oldest and largest
communication service provider (CSP). It had a customer base of 102 million as of
December 2012. It has footprints throughout India except for the metropolitan cities
of Mumbai and New Delhi which are managed by Mahanagar Telephone Nigam
(MTNL). The motto of BSNL is "Connecting India, faster"
Services
BSNL provides almost every telecom service in India. Following are the main
telecom services provided by BSNL:
Universal Telecom Services: Fixed wireline services and landline in local loop
(WLL) using CDMA Technology called bfone and Tarang respectively.
Cellular Mobile Telephone Services: BSNL is major provider of Cellular
Mobile Telephone services using GSM platform under the brand name
Cellone & Excel (BSNL Mobile).
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WLL-CDMA Telephone Services: BSNL's WLL (Wireless in Local Loop)
service is a service giving both fixed line telephony & Mobile telephony.
Internet: BSNL provides Internet access services through dial-up connection
as Prepaid, NetOne as Postpaid and ADSL broadband as BSNL Broadband.
Intelligent Network (IN): BSNL offers value-added services, such as Free
Phone Service (FPH), India Telephone Card (Prepaid card), Account Card
Calling (ACC), Virtual Private Network (VPN), Tele-voting, Premium Rae
Service (PRM), Universal Access Number (UAN).
3G:BSNL offers the '3G' or the'3rd Generation' services which includes
facilities like video calling, mobile broadband, live TV, 3G Video portal,
streaming services like online full length movies and video on demand etc.
IPTV: BSNL also offers the 'Internet Protocol Television' facility which
enables watch television through internet.
FTTH: Fibre To The Home facility that offers a higher bandwidth for data
transfer.
Helpdesk: BSNL's Helpdesk (Helpdesk) provide help desk support to their
customers for their services.
VVoIP: BSNL, along with Sai Infosystem - an Information and
Communication Technologies (ICTs) provider - has launched Voice and
Video Over Internet Protocol (VVoIP). This will allow to make audio as well
as video calls to any landline, mobile, or IP phone anywhere in the world,
provided that the requisite video phone equipment is available at both ends.
WiMax: BSNL has introduced India's first 4th Generation High-Speed
Wireless Broadband Access Technology with the minimum speed of
256kbit/s. The focus of this service is mainly rural customer where the wired
broadband facility is not available.
Recognitions
The Brand Trust Report published by Trust Research Advisory ranked BSNL
in the 65th position of the list of Most Trusted brands.
Competitors
BSNL competes with 14 other mobile operators throughout India. They are
Aircel, Airtel, Idea, Loop Mobile, MTNL, MTS, Reliance Communications, Tata
DoCoMo, Uninor, Videocon, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.
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AIRCEL
Aircel group is an Indian mobile network operator headquartered in Chennai,
that provides wireless voice, messaging and data services in India. It is a joint venture
between Maxis Communications Berhad of Malaysia and Sindya Securities &
Investments Private Limited., Aircel commenced its operations in 1999 and today is
the leading mobile operator in Tamil Nadu, Assam, North-East India and Chennai. It
is India’s fifth largest GSM mobile service provider and seventh largest mobile
service provider (both GSM and CDMA). It has a market share of 7.33% among
wireless operators (includes GSM, CDMA, and FWP operators) in the country. Aircel
has also obtained permission from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to
provide international long distance (ILD) and national long distance (NLD) telephony
services. It also has the largest service in Tamil Nadu.
Timeline of Aircel
Aircel started as a regional player in Tamil Nadu in 1999. Soon, it became the
leading operator in Tamil Nadu. At one time, Aircel was the fastest growing operator
in India. In 2010, the company bough 3G and wireless broadband (BWA) spectrum in
13 and 8 circles respectively in the 2010 spectrum auction It paid US$ 1.44 billion (
79.1 billion) for the 3G spectrum and US$ 0.76 billion ( 49.76 billion) for BWA. Of
this, the company raised $0.88 billion ( 48.3 billion) from Deutsche Bank, Standard
Chartered Bank, HSBC and Barclays. It also took a $0.44 billion ( 24.2 billion) one-
year bridge loan from HSBC, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank. The company, as
of November 2012, has around 1 million 3G customers. It is yet to launch its LTE
network, although it is conducting trials at its center in Hyderabad. Aircel expects to
launch it in the first quarter of 2013.
AIRTEL
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational
telecommunications Services Company headquartered at New Delhi, India. It operates
in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. Airtel has GSM
network in all countries in which it operates, providing 2G, 3G and 4G services
depending upon the country of operation. Airtel is the world's third largest mobile
telecommunications company with over 261 million subscribers across 20 countries
as of August 2012. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 183.61
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million subscribers as of November 2012. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile
operator by subscriber base, behind China Mobile and China Unicom.
Airtel is the largest provider of mobile telephony and second largest provider
of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription
television services. It offers its telecom services under the airtel brand, and is headed
by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to
achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It also acts as a carrier for national and international
long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing
station at Chennai, which connects the submarine cable connecting Chennai and
Singapore.
Airtel is credited with pioneering the business strategy of outsourcing all of its
business operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes
factory' model of low cost and high volumes. The strategy has since been copied by
several operators. Its network—base stations, microwave links, etc.is maintained by
Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Network whereas business support is provided by IBM,
and transmission towers are maintained by another company (Bharti Infratel Ltd. in
India).
Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the minute for installation and
maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid up front, which allowed Airtel
to provide low call rates of 1/minute (US$0.02/minute). On 31 May 2012, Bharti
Airtel awarded the three-year contract to Alcatel-Lucent for setting up an Internet
Protocol access network (mobile backhaul) across the country. This would help
consumers to access internet at faster speed and high quality internet browsing on
mobile handsets.
Results and discussions
Level of satisfaction towards the usage of cellular phones
For analytical purpose, the level of satisfaction of the respondents towards the
usage of cellular phones has been classified into high, medium and low. Table 1
exhibits the level of satisfaction towards the usage of cellular phones.
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Table 1 Level of satisfaction towards the usage of cellular phones Level No. of respondents Percentage
High 501 55.67
Medium 195 21.67
Low 204 22.66
Total 900 100
Source: Primary data
Out of 900 respondents, 501 (55.67%) have high level satisfaction, 204
(22.66%) have low level satisfaction and 195 (21.67%) have medium level
satisfaction towards the usage of cellular phones.
Socio economic profile of the respondents
Socio economic profile influences the standard of living of the human beings. In this study, five socio economic variables sex, age, education, occupation and monthly income are taken into account. Table 2 depicts the socio economic profile of the respondents.
Table 2 Socio economic profile of the respondents Socio economic profile No. of respondents Percentage
Sex Male 523 58.11
Female 377 41.89
Age (in years) Below 20 124 13.78
20-30 266 29.56
30-40 209 23.22
40-50 135 15.00
Above 50 166 18.44
Education School level 178 19.78
College level 518 57.56
Others 204 22.66
Occupation Students 101 11.22
House wives 174 19.33
Business men 233 25.89
Employees 182 20.22
Farmers 88 9.78
Others 122 13.56
Monthly income (in Rs.) Below 7,000 249 27.67
7000-14,000 398 44.22
Above 14,000 253 28.11
Source: Primary data
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Out of 900 respondents 523 (58.11%) are male, 266 (29.56%) belong to the age group
of 20-30 years, 518 (57.56%) completed their education upto college level, 233
(25.89%) are business men and 398 (44.22%) have earned a monthly income of
Rs.7,000 – Rs.14,000.
Mindset of clientele towards the practice of cellular phones
The businessmen manufacture the products in order to meet the aspirations of
the clientele. Hence, it is a need of an hour to study the mindset of the clientele
towards the practice of cellular phones.
Table 3 Mindset of clientele towards the practice of Mobile phones Aircel Airtel BSNL
SA A N
O
DA SD
A
SA A NO DA SDA SA A NO DA SDA
New broad
band
packages
72 58 36 70 64 107 89 64 12 28 166 18 61 11 44
Attractive
rates
41 103 67 51 38 98 30 58 56 58 155 47 23 51 24
Wide
coverage
55 69 49 76 51 56 28 103 45 68 68 75 49 30 78
Quick
service
54 64 62 65 55 49 122 23 32 74 23 87 70 56 64
Customer
centric
service
82 28 47 59 84 68 73 69 41 49 12 119 66 53 50
Reliability
of service
69 96 18 62 55 52 56 72 81 39 16 148 49 41 46
Value
added
services
33 86 79 81 21 51 133 51 53 12 79 68 65 30 58
Attractive
publicity
45 59 70 82 44 105 36 24 14 121 26 60 62 55 95
High
validity
145 46 59 12 38 69 106 45 21 59 43 51 47 57 102
Standard
charges
137 52 63 34 14 78 119 14 24 65 12 58 126 63 41
Source: primary data
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Table 4 Mindset of clientele towards the practice of Mobile phones – Kruskal Wallis Test Results
Aircel Airtel BSNL
Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
New broad band packages 904 18 1135 5 1151 3
Attractive rates 958 12 954 13 1158 2
Wide coverage 901 19.5 859 26 925 17
Quick service 897 21 940 15 849 27
Customer centric service 865 25 970 10 890 22.5
Reliability of service 962 11 901 19.5 947 14
Value added services 929 16 1058 6 980 9
Attractive publicity 879 24 890 22.5 761 30
High validity 1148 4 1005 8 776 29
Standard charges 1164 1 1021 7 837 28
151.5 132 181.5
Source: Primary data
12/n (n+1) (∑Ri2/nj) – 3 (n+1)
=12/30 (30+1) [(151.5*151.5)/10+(132*132)/10)+(181.5*181.5)/10] - 3 (30+1)
=0.012 (2295.225+1742.4+3294.225) – 93
= 0.012 (7331.85) – 93
= 87.9822 – 93=5.0178
The calculated value of Kruskal Walis test = 5.0178
Degrees of freedom =3-1 =2
Table value = 5.991
As the calculated value (5.0178) is less than the table value (5.991), the null
hypothesis is accepted. Hence, there is no significant difference among the service
providers regarding their services.
Suggestions
Some suggestions are offered to improve the services of cellular phone companies.
1. BSNL has to improve the advertising pattern to spread the propaganda of cellular phone schemes.
2. It has to increase the validity period to cover more clientele. 3. It has to stabilize the standard charges. 4. Airtel has to improve its wide coverage. For that it has a tie up with forest
departments. 5. It has to take efforts to provide quick services when compared to the competitors.
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6. Aircel has to meet the expectations of the clientele by providing customer centric services.
CONCLUSION
In the modern world, communication occupies a dominant position. No one
can perform their normal work without getting information from others. The nature of
communication has undergone a substantial change in the past 20 years and the
change is not over. Globalization brings mushroom growth of Cellular phone
companies in our country. Some companies stand in the market by their tireless
efforts, effective marketing strategy and sincere performance. Some companies drop
out from the market within a short duration. Some other drop out companies reenters
into the market by joining hands to successful companies. No one can neglect the fact
that in the Cellular phone market, the companies achieve success only from the
support and cooperation of the customers
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