Factors influencing customer satisfaction and loyalty in the Nigerian telecommunications industry

Abstract: The Nigerian telecommunications industry is a competitive market in which major industry players (MTN, GLO, AIRTEL and 9MOBILE) are struggling to retain their current marketshare, keep customers satisfied, and establish long-term relationships with customers. This can be attributed to the fact that every mobile service provider is offering almost the same services. Their poor marketing strategies and philosophies have led customers to possess multiple SIM cards, a low incidence of customer loyalty, and a high switching rate in the sector. Inadequate customer service, irregular prices, poor network quality, limited product packages, and poor overall service quality have also resulted in a lack of trust, and commitment and high switching behaviour among subscribers, mainly owing to dissatisfaction. Therefore, to remain competitive in this market, Nigerian mobile operators have to anticipate and deliver on the factors that influence customer satisfaction and loyalty. For this reason, the primary objective of this study was to examine the factors that influence customer satisfaction (customer service, price fairness, network quality, diversity of products, and overall service quality), mediated by trust, commitment, and low switching costs and their influence on customer loyalty in the telecommunications sector in Nigeria...M.Com. (Marketing Management