Customer satisfaction for the Lebanese telecom service provider market

Abstract

Purpose - This research will attempt to investigate the critical factors that affect the customer satisfaction for the Lebanese telecom service providers market. Design/methodology/approach - The study is based on a positivism epistemology, objectivist ontology, and deductive approach. A quantitative self-administered questionnaire is conducted by random people that use the Mobile Services from all ages all over Lebanon. Findings - The quantitative findings of this study showed that there are four critical factors that mostly explain the concept of customer satisfaction for the Lebanese telecom service providers market. These factors are: Customer Care, Price, Mobile Services, and Communication. When studying the effect of these factors on customer satisfaction we found out that Communication and Mobile Services have the strongest coefficient, while Customer Care and Price have the least effect. Research limitations - First of all the number of respondent from the two service providers was not equal. Secondly the number of respondent from certain geographical areas wasn't enough to draw definite conclusions. Moreover this research failed to address some important demographic aspects like the educational and Income level of a respondent. Theoretical implications - The ministry of telecommunication should study the idea of employing a third and fourth operator in order to improve the mobile coverage level in the country. Additionally give the freedom for the operators to set their own pricing strategies based on the market demand so as to reduce the Price oligopoly and increase the level of competition between the service providers. Practical implications - ALFA and TOUCH should starts by deploying more sites in order to improve their faded coverage in certain geographical areas in Lebanon. Secondly improve in the overall quality of services offered by ALFA, and present more diversified services. Finally introduce the mobile phone bundle service, were a consumer can benefit from the latest mobile phones available at reduced Prices, on the condition of subscribing to a specific number of services for a limited amount of time. Originality/value - This thesis is one of few researches exploring customer satisfaction for the telecom service providers market, and the first of its kind in Lebanon.