perceptual mapping of key telecom operators in mumbai

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WELINGKAR INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT & RESEARCH

SPECIALISATION PROJECT

ON

Perceptual Mapping of Key Mobile telecom operators:

A study on telecom subscribers in Mumbai

BY

Anup Pawaskar

PGDM e-Biz 2011 – 13 (Marketing)

ROLL NO: - 14

PROJECT FACULTY GUIDE

PROF. Prof. Jyoti Kulkarni

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PROJECT COMPLETION CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that project titled “Perceptual Mapping of Key Mobile telecom operators:

A study on telecom subscribers in Mumbai” has been successfully completed by Mr. Anup A.

Pawaskar in partial fulfillment of his two years full time course ‘Post Graduation Diploma in

Management’ recognized by AICTE through the Print. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management

Development & Research, Matunga, Mumbai.

This project in general is done under my guidance.

(Signature of Faculty Guide)

Name: ______________________

Date: ______________________

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Any successful project is a teamwork that reflects the contribution of many people. I would like to

thank everyone who has contributed to this effort by sharing their time and taking interest in my project

and encouraging me all the way through.

In particular, I would like to thank my Project Guide Prof. Ms. Jyoti Kulkarni for her immense

guidance and support towards the project. I would also like to express my gratitude to Group Director

Prof. Dr. Uday Salunkhe and the Dean of E-biz program Prof. Dr.Pradeep Pendse .

Finally, I would like to thank my classmates, family and friends who have contributed to this research

project in their own special way.

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Abstract

The title of my project was Perceptual Mapping of Key Mobile telecom operators: A study on telecom

subscribers in Mumbai .The purpose of this project was to find the market space occupied by different

mobile-operators brands in the minds of telecom subscribers in Mumbai in a visual format i.e. by

drawing perceptual maps. It also aimed to find out what are the top important factors that consumers

consider while making a choice of selecting a mobile operator. Finally the project intended to explore

possible positioning strategies for telecom players. By finding visible voids (or empty spaces) in the

perceptual mapping results. A statistical technique called Discriminant analysis method was used to

draw the perceptual maps.

Attributes, like cheap-Tariff, transparency in billing, network-quality, customer-service, easy

availability and customized plans/offerings were selected for comparing the mobile operators and

drawing the perceptual maps. An online questionnaire was administered to collect the responses.

The operators seem to differ significantly on perceived network coverage. Also none of the operators

seem to fit well with the attribute of fair and transparent billing and deductions.

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Table of Contents

Appendix .................................................................................................................................................. 1

Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................................... 3

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................... 4

Appendix B (Synopsis) ............................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 6

Literature Review ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Work done by researchers on this topic ..................................................................................................... 7

Problem Definition .................................................................................................................................... 9

Research Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 9

Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................................... 10

Analysis .................................................................................................................................................. 12

Management Implications of the Study ................................................................................................... 23

References .............................................................................................................................................. 24

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Perceptual Mapping of Key Mobile telecom operators: A study on telecom

subscribers in Mumbai

A. Introduction

The Indian telecom sector has seen phenomenal growth over the past decade. With around 89.55 crore

telephone connections (86.42 cr. mobile and 30.79 cr. fixed lines), India, today, is the second largest

telecom market in the world. The sector has also been the driver of Foreign Direct Investment and FII

flows into our country. The total revenue of the Telecom Services Sector was US$ 34,344 million (

171,719 crore) in 2010-11, with a y-o-y growth of 8.69%.

However, the Indian telecom market is considered to be one of the toughest one in the world to operate

in. The last decade has seen the emergence of 12 to 13 mobile telecom players in India. The dominant

players are Airtel, Reliance-Telecom, Vodafone, Idea cellular and BSNL/MTNL. Besides these, there

are many smaller players like Tata Indicom and Aircel, MTS and Videocon with operations in only a

few states. The launch of per second billing has further intensified the competition in the market. It has

even lead to structural defects in the industry with abnormally high rotational churn. This indicates the

'use and throw' phenomenon prevailing in the market, which leads to excessive payouts by the telecom

firms for SIMs and rotational churn. The monthly churn over a three-year period has nearly doubled to

12 to 13 per cent levels. Resources are being pumped in for customer acquisition and they are being

serviced at unsustainable price points. The other natural fallout of the hypercompetitive market

has been the free fall in tariffs over the last three years, dropping by over 40 per cent. Tariffs in India

are now among the lowest in the world. In fact, such a market has created unsustainable models where

some telecom players are offering services at prices that do not even justify their marginal costs.

Since the mobile telecommunication market in India has reached its maturity stage, the net return on

investments in mature markets could be much higher for retention strategies than to attract new

customer’s strategies particularly, for companies with an established customer base (Zeithaml, Berry

and Parasuraman, 1998). With increase in supply of mobile services, there is an improvement in

quality, which has resulted in mobile service being treated as commodity like Fast Moving Consumer

Good (FMCG). The Indian mobile service market is very price sensitive so the, service operators trying

for customization and inventing new pricing models to attract all segments of customers. Operators

have to develop well-woven network for retailing the mobile services through company branded shops,

distributors, dealers, retailers and direct sales agents. The customers are well educated and make

conscious decisions. They are vocal about the deficiencies and are asking for more freebees. So, focus

on branding strategies services by cellular operators especially become relevant in the present context.

B. Literature Review

Perceptual Mapping is a marketing research technique in which consumer's views about a product are

traced or plotted (mapped) on a chart. Respondents are asked questions about their experience with the

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product in terms of its performance, packaging, price, size, etc. Theses qualitative answers are

transferred to a chart (called a perceptual map) using a suitable scale (such as the Likert scale), and the

results are employed in improving the product or in developing a new one. It has been used as a

strategic management tool for about thirty last three decades (Green and Wind, 1975). Perceptual

mapping offers a unique ability to understand market structure, analyzing the complex relationships

among marketplace competitors and the criteria used by buyers in making purchase decisions and

recommendations. Its powerful graphic simplicity appeals to senior management and can stimulate

discussion and strategic thinking at all levels of all types of organizations. Perceptual mapping is a tool

that helps market researchers visually represents customers’ perceptions of products, attributes, brands,

promotions or services (Jawarharlal and Kumar, 2004). It is used to satisfy marketing and advertising

information needs related to product positioning (DeSarbo and Rao, 1984; Wind, 1982), competitive

market structure (Srivastava et al., 1984).

There are two approaches to perceptual mapping: Attribute based and Non-Attribute based. This study

was conducted using the attribute based approach. The respondents were asked to evaluate brands

based on attributes perceived by them when selecting a telecom operator. (Lonergan, 1999) stated that

customer churn remains a major challenge for cellular operators. Most common cause of churn among

cellular customers is switching to another service/tariff plan offered by different cellular operators.

C. Work done by researchers on this topic

1. For years perceptual maps on analgesics showed a big hole where strength (effectiveness) was paired

with gentleness. The strong/gentle part of the map was always empty, and everyone knew why—an

over-the-counter analgesic could not be made that was potent yet didn't irritate the stomach. The launch

of Extra-Strength Tylenol in 1975-76 proved everyone wrong by filling this gap

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2. Chadha and Kapoor 2008 had conducted perceptual mapping of selected insurance companies

in the Insurance sector and justified the importance of perceptual tools for the marketers. The

resultant perceptual map along with some of the key findings of that study are given below:

Both, ICICI Prudential and BAJAJ Allianz life seemed to be stronger on dimension 1 comprising of

CRM practices and having good advertisement and promotional campaigns.

Customers identify HDFC Standard life insurance brand by Transparency in contracts, CRM practices

and Promotional campaigns. However, the products quality and services of intermediaries’ vectors are

in the opposite direction thus, representing lower association with HDFC Standard life insurance.

Birla Sunlife insurance and Max New York life insurance brands count more on product quality and

services of intermediaries.

The perceptual map shows that customers do not associate Birla Sun life insurance brand and Max New

York life insurance brand with good advertisement and promotional campaigns.

3. A similar study of plotting perceptual maps for telecom operators was conducted in Haryana

among management graduates. (2011, Ashutosh Nigam and Rajiv Kaushik).It had made use of

six attributes namely availability, quality of customer service, price, network quality and

fidelity. Convenience and customer perception of quality emerged as the most important factor

in shaping consumer perception. It made sense to apply such a study in the city of Mumbai,

which is perhaps the most important market in India for telecom players. It has the highest

Average Revenue per User (ARPU) in the country of Rs. 460 per month.

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D. Problem Definition

With the help of existing research papers that were studied for the current research it was that

perceptual mapping for the Indian telecom brands can provide marketers with insights as to where their

brands stand from the customer’s point of view with respect to different parameters. So, the main

objective of this study is to draw a perceptual map of key mobile telecom operators in Mumbai using

attribute based perceptual mapping technique. The study was aimed to understand the following:

1.) The market space occupied by different Mobile-operators brands in the minds of telecom

subscribers in Mumbai

2.) What factors do consumers consider while making a choice of selecting a mobile operator and

their relative importance of these factors?

3.) Possible Positioning strategies for new and existing telecom players.i.e are there any visible

voids (or empty spaces) seen in the perceptual mapping results?

E. Attributes considered for the study User of a service have predetermined and usually well-defined expectations. These expectations

mainly focus on usability, ease of interaction and performance of the system. This results in what is

termed as the Quality of Experience (QoE).It can be simply defined as the overall acceptability of an

application or service, as perceived subjectively by the end-user. For the user to be satisfied with the

experience, his or her expectations must be met. As per a white paper released by Nokia on QoE ,

attributes such as cost, reliability of network , availability, customer-service, usability, utility and

fidelity are identified to be critical for determining QoE of mobile networks.

F. Research Methodology The top eight telecom service providers in Mumbai were selected for the project based on the number

of subscribers. A total of 131 respondents were selected from the city of Mumbai. Convenience

sampling method was used for selecting the sample of respondents. A quantitative questionnaire was

prepared keeping in mind the objectives of the study. The data was collected through online medium

such as email and social media websites.

In order to achieve the objective of the study, discriminant analysis was used to identify the attributes

that are best associated with the particular telecom brand. Then Perceptual maps were drawn to identify

the market space occupied by each of the brands along these attributes. There was an investigation to

see if there exists any “void spaces” in the perceptual map along which a new or existing brand can be

positioned. Also, the importance of various factors considered by consumers while selecting a telecom

service provider was evaluated. The study used Microsoft Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS v.20 for purpose

of data analysis

G. Questionnaire

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1. Name :___________________

2. Age:_______ years

Gender

o Male

o Female

3. Which of the following telecom operator do you currently use? *

o Airtel

o Vodafone

o Reliance

o Idea

o Tata DoCoMo

o Aircel

o MTNL Trump

o Other: ________

4. How much do you spend monthly on your mobile bill/recharges? *

o Less than Rs.100

o Rs. 100 to Rs.200

o Rs. 200 to Rs. 300

o Rs.300 to Rs.400

o Rs. 400 to Rs. 500

o Rs. 500+

5. How much do you spend monthly on your data packs (2G/3G) recharges? *

o I don’t use Internet on mobile

o Less than Rs.100

o Rs. 100 to Rs.200

o Rs. 200 to Rs. 300

o Rs.300 to Rs.400

o Rs. 400 to Rs. 500

o Rs. 500+

7. The call tariff charged by my telecom operator are cheap and competitive compared to other telecom players *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Strongly Disagree Strongly Agree

8. The billing and deduction of balance done by my telecom operator is always fair and transparent *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


9. My telecom operator allows me to have a clear conversation without interruptions, call drops etc. wherever I

go *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


10. I can proudly say that my telecom operator has the "Best National Coverage in India"

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


11. On calling/visiting the customer service center of my telecom operator, my query is resolved in quick time &

in a proper manner *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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12. The customer service staff of my telecom operator is very knowledgeable *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


13. Based on the experience with my current mobile operator, I don't think I will be changing my existing telecom

operator in coming 6 months *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


14. I would definitely recommend my friends to use the data services (2G/3G) offered by my telecom operator *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


15. The recharge packs for my telecom operator are available almost everywhere in Mumbai quite easily *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


16. My telecom provider provides a wide range of tariff plans (for calls/data etc.) suitable to my every need *

1 2 3 4 5 6 7


17. While choosing a mobile telecom operator...rate your level of agreement/disagreement w.r.t. the importance

given to following factors *

Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Neutral

Agree

Strongly

Agree

Easy Availability of

Recharge Packs

Low/Cost effective Tariff

plans

Level-of-Customer

Service

Network Coverage

Customization of calling

and data plan

Value added services like

(Caller-Tunes,Ring-

Tones,

Cricket updates)

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ANALYSIS

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Analysis of Primary Data

A total of 131 responses were collected by administering an online questionnaire. The respondents

were from the city of Mumbai and adjoining areas. The primary data collected was analyzed through a

series of validated tools and procedures. The sample respondents were in the age group of 18-40 years.

Close to 55% of the respondents were employed professionals while around 39% were students

studying in either undergraduate or post-graduate courses.

1.) Demographic Characteristics of Respondents

Table 1. (a) Gender

Table 1. (b) Age Group

Age Group Frequency Percentage

18-24 80 61.07

25-29 43 32.82

30+ 8 6.11

Total 131 100

Table 1. (c) Occupation

Occupation Frequency Percentage

Student 51 38.93

Employed 72 54.96

Housewife 8 6.11

Total 131 100

Gender Frequency Percentage

Male 87 66.41

Female 44 33.59

Total 131 100

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The respondents were asked about the brand of cellular operator they currently use, the amount spent

monthly on voice and text and also the amount spent on data services like 2G/3G.

2.) Mobile Cellular Brands used by the sample respondents and monthly spending

Table 2. (a) Brands used by Respondents

Table 2. (b) Spending on Voice and Text SMS

Table 2. (c) Spending on Data Services (2G/3G)

Monthly Spend on 2G/3G Frequency Percentage

Don’t use Internet on

mobile

23 17.56

Less than Rs.100 35 26.72

Rs. 100 to Rs.200 45 34.35

Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 12 9.16

Rs.300 to Rs.400 8 6.11

Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 3 2.29

Rs. 500+ 5 3.82

Total 131 100

Brand Frequency Percentage

Vodafone 48 37.40

Airtel 25 19.08

Tata DoCoMo 15 11.45

Aircel 10 7.63

Idea 10 7.63

Reliance 9 6.87

MTNL Trump 7 5.34

Loop Mobile 7 4.58

Total 131 100.00

Monthly Spending(Voice

and Text)

Frequency Percentage

Less than Rs.100 14 10.69

Rs. 100 to Rs.200 33 25.19

Rs. 200 to Rs. 300 25 19.08

Rs.300 to Rs.400 18 13.74

Rs. 400 to Rs. 500 19 14.50

Rs. 500+ 22 16.79

Total 131 100

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The respondents were asked to indicate the importance of certain factors while selecting a mobile

cellular operator. These factors were 1.) Easy availability of Recharge Packs 2.) Low/Cost Effective

Tariff plans 3.)Level of Customer Service 4.) Network Coverage 5.) Customized Calling and Data

Plans and 6.) Value Added Services (viz. Caller tunes, Ringtones etc.).

Table 3. Importance of factors considered by consumers while selecting a Mobile Operator

Weights 5 4 3 2 1

Factor/Importance

Very

Important

Important Moderately

Important

Of Little

importance

Unimportant Weighted

Score

Rank

Easy Availability

of Recharge Packs

25 50 18 23 15 440 5

Low/Cost effective

Tariff plans

63 37 15 9 7 533 2

Level of Customer

Service

46 46 24 8 7 509 3

Network Coverage 96 22 2 7 4 592 1

Customization of

calling and data plan

34 54 21 16 6 487 4

VAS like(Caller-

Tunes,Ring-Tones,

Cricket updates)

7 10 18 39 57 264 6

As seen in the Table 3. above, Network Coverage ranked as the top-most factor in selecting a mobile

operator brand, followed by Low/Cost-effective Tariff Plans and Level of Customer Service. Also,

interestingly a majority of respondents indicated VAS as being unimportant while selecting a mobile

operator. The table also shows that a majority of respondents felt that Customization of calling and

data plans and Easy availability of recharge packs was an important factor for them.

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4. Perceptual Mapping

To draw the perceptual maps, respondents were asked to rate their mobile operators on six attributes,

namely Cheap Tariff, Transparency in Billing, Network Quality, Customer Service, Easy Availability

of Recharge Packs and Customized Plans and offerings .The attributes were measured using a 7-

point Likert Scale (1- Strongly Disagree to 7- Strongly Agree). Discriminant Analysis was used with

the help of IBM SPSS software. The results have been tabulated in Table 4 given below.

SPSS output

Table 4. (a) Group Statistics

Brand Mean Std. Deviation Valid N (listwise)

Unweighted Weighted

Vodafone

Cheap Tariff 3.9375 1.58995 48 48.000

Transparency in billing 4.5625 1.58324 48 48.000

Network Quality 5.2565 1.06790 48 48.000

Customer Service 4.6146 1.43379 48 48.000

Easy availability 5.9375 1.32739 48 48.000

Customized plans/offerings 5.1667 1.11724 48 48.000

Airtel

Cheap Tariff 4.0000 1.68325 25 25.000


Network Quality 4.6132 1.48959 25 25.000




Tata DoCoMo

Cheap Tariff 4.4667 1.99523 15 15.000


Network Quality 4.1107 1.76650 15 15.000




Aircel

Cheap Tariff 4.8000 1.54919 10 10.000


Network Quality 4.3680 1.37433 10 10.000




Idea

Cheap Tariff 3.9000 1.28668 10 10.000


Network Quality 5.1010 1.15471 10 10.000


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Reliance

Cheap Tariff 3.8889 1.83333 9 9.000


Network Quality 5.2589 1.43193 9 9.000




MTNL Trump

Cheap Tariff 4.4286 1.81265 7 7.000


Network Quality 3.9043 1.38566 7 7.000




Loop Mobile

Cheap Tariff 5.5714 1.27242 7 7.000


Network Quality 3.6657 1.24722 7 7.000




Total

Cheap Tariff 4.1832 1.66318 131 131.000


Network Quality 4.7657 1.39762 131 131.000




Table 4. (b) Univariate ANOVA test

Tests of Equality of Group Means

Wilks' Lambda F df1 df2 Sig.

Cheap Tariff .933 1.270 7 123 .271

Transparency in billing .958 .776 7 123 .609

Network Quality .854 3.010 7 123 .006

Customer Service .946 1.009 7 123 .428

Easy availability .924 1.437 7 123 .196

Customized plans/offerings .971 .532 7 123 .809

High values of Wilk’s Lambda in the table 5 indicate lower group differences. Similarly a higher value

of degree of significance indicates that selected mobile telecom operators do not vary significantly

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across various attributes. However the importance of Network Quality in distinguishing the mobile

telecom operators was found to be high (significant value of 0.006).

Table 4.(c) Pooled Within-Groups Matrices

Cheap Tariff Transparency in

billing

Network Quality Customer

Service

Easy

availability

Customized

plans/offerings

Correlation

Cheap Tariff 1.000 .113 .067 .222 .050 .352

Transparency

in billing .113 1.000 .250 .350 .298 .127

Network Quality .067 .250 1.000 .428 .432 .325

Customer Service .222 .350 .428 1.000 .149 .215

Easy availability .050 .298 .432 .149 1.000 .361

Customized

plans/offerings .352 .127 .325 .215 .361 1.000

The pooled within group matrix in table 4.(c) indicates low correlation (<0.50) among independent

variables. This implies the attributes chosen for analyzing the mobile telecom operator brands are

distinct.

Table 4.(d) Eigenvalues

Function Eigenvalue % of Variance Cumulative % Canonical

Correlation

1 .251a 59.9 59.9 .448

2 .105a 24.9 84.8 .308

3 .037a 8.7 93.6 .188

4 .021a 5.0 98.6 .144

5 .004a .8 99.4 .059

6 .002a .6 100.0 .049

a. First 6 canonical discriminant functions were used in the analysis.

The Eigen Values in table 4.(d) show that the first two functions explain most of the variance

(cumulative variance 84.8%) in the input data. Hence these two dimensions have been used for further

interpretation.

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Table 4.(e) Standardized Canonical Discriminant Function Coefficients

Function

1 2 3 4 5 6

Cheap Tariff -.526 .115 .150 .471 -.183 .794

Transparency in billing .027 .719 -.385 -.373 .596 .264

Network Quality .772 .352 .116 -.109 -.723 .504

Customer Service .156 -.040 .547 .713 .476 -.583

Easy availability .126 -.944 -.292 .324 .469 .311

Customized plans/offerings -.165 -.095 .680 -.889 .215 -.206

As seen in table 4.(e) the first six canonical discriminates were used in the analysis. The perceptual

maps were drawn using SPSS output of the discriminant analysis and Excel worksheet. The figure 2

shows the perceptual map of selected mobile operators and different attributes. The Mobile cellular

operators were plotted on the basis of value of group centroids on function 1 and 2 using Table 4.(g).

All the 8 brands have a unique position on the map.

Table 4. (f) Structure Matrix

Function

1 2 3 4 5 6

Network Quality .811* .083 .359 -.014 -.109 .441

Easy availability .405 -.612* -.023 -.025 .474 .485

Customized plans/offerings -.017 -.198 .733* -.536 .264 .257

Customer Service .362 .226 .598* .497 .451 -.096

Transparency in billing .231 .513 -.148 -.114 .729* .343

Cheap Tariff -.489 .131 .460 .283 .041 .671*

Pooled within-groups correlations between discriminating variables and standardized canonical discriminant functions

Variables ordered by absolute size of correlation within function.

*. Largest absolute correlation between each variable and any discriminant function

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Table 4. (g) Functions at Group Centroids

Brand Function

1 2 3 4 5 6

Vodafone .413 .113 .101 .024 .006 -.023

Airtel -.032 -.605 -.107 .022 -.021 -.006

Tata DoCoMo -.564 .070 -.062 -.248 .096 -.028

Aircel -.516 .112 .308 -.041 -.101 -.028

Idea .278 .233 -.147 -.243 -.083 .110

Reliance .482 .107 -.126 .184 .093 .067

MTNL Trump -.602 .568 -.515 .212 -.063 -.060

Loop Mobile -1.186 .034 .270 .241 .035 .094

Unstandardized canonical discriminant functions evaluated at group means

Figure 1. Canonical Discriminant Functions

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Figure 2: Perceptual Map of Key telecom operator brands and attributes: Drawn using Excel, from

SPSS output

Mobile Operators and their association with Attributes/Dimensions

The position of different brands have been plotted with respect to different influencing attributes as perceived

by the consumers.

It appears that Idea, Reliance and Vodafone are strongly represented by Network Quality

Airtel is strongly represented by Easy availability of Recharge Packs indicating a well woven

distribution network and intermediaries.

Customers identify Tata DoCoMo, Aircel and also MTNL Trump with cheaper tariff rates. However,

the customer service attribute is in the opposite direction indicating a lower association with the brand

with the later.

Vodafone, Idea and Reliance and Airtel are not perceived with cheap tariff by consumers.

None of the brands score well on transparency in billing and deduction of talk-time balance. In fact

presence of Airtel being in diagonally opposite direction indicates that the brand is perceived poorly on

this factor.

Cheap Tariff

Transparency in Billing

Network quality

Customer Service

Easy Availabilty of Recharge Packs

Customized Plans

Vodafone

Airtel

Tata DoCoMo

Aircel

Idea

Reliance

MTNL Trump

Loop Mobile

-1.2

-1.0

-0.8

-0.6

-0.4

-0.2

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

-1.5 -1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Perceptual Mapping of Key Telecom Operators

23

A few other two-dimensional perceptual maps

The correlation between the various attributes were examined and following perceptual maps

were drawn. Figure 3:

As seen in figure 3. Vodafone, Reliance and Idea score high on Network Quality. Loop Mobile,

Tata DoCoMo, MTNL Trump and Aircel score well on cheaper tariffs

Figure 4.

The figure 4 shows that Vodafone and Reliance are perceived to be the best providers in terms of Customer Service while Aircel, Loop and Tata DoCoMo fare a bit better on Customization of plans

Aircel

Airtel

Idea

Loop Mobile

MTNL Trump

Reliance

Tata DoCoMo

Vodafone

0.00

1.00

2.00

3.00

4.00

5.00

6.00

7.00

4.77 4.78 4.79 4.80 4.81 4.82 4.83 4.84

Ch

eap

Ta

riff

Rat

es

Ch

eap

est

Low Network Quality High

Quality of Network v/s Cheap-Tariffs

AircelAirtel

Idea Loop Mobile

MTNL Trump

Reliance

Tata DoCoMo

Vodafone

4.00

4.10

4.20

4.30

4.40

4.50

4.60

4.70

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00 7.00

Customization in Plans V/s Customer Service

Low Customization in Plans High

Low

C

ust

om

er S

ervi

ce

Hig

h

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Managerial Implication of the study

The research conducted pointed out a number of interesting things that can aid a manager in a

telecommunication firm. Consumers perceive Network Coverage as an important factor while selecting

a mobile telecom brand and that different brands seem to be varying in perceived network coverage.

Telecom companies apart from providing low-cost tariff plans, should also focus on providing

customers a superior level of customer service. The study also hints that consumers are less likely to

select a mobile network operator solely on the basis of VAS like Caller Tunes and Ringtones and

Cricket. Finally ‘transparency in billing and deductions’ is an attribute on which brand managers can

position their telecom brand to achieve differentiation in this hypercompetitive market.

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http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/perceptual-mapping.html