YOUNG ADULTS' SWITCHING BEHAVIOUR IN THE CELLULAR SERVICE INDUSTRY OF PAKISTAN

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Introduction
Globally, many countries have seen a boom in the cellular service industry over the last few years."Cellular phones were once a luxury of life and only used by the business elite, have captured every space for over lives.The checker at the grocery store uses one" (Dadzie & Boachie, 2011).Particularly during the last decade, the usage of cell phon.esaround the globe has risen significantly.According to GMSA, in April 2021, the The research was conducted on Malaysian cellular network users to find out what motivates them to select a particular cellular network provider, rerevealinged price factors as one of the influential factors along with the quality of services, availability of services, and promotional activities (Rahman, Haque, & Ahmad, 2010).Similarly, another study gave call rates the highest Rank among other factors affecting switching behaviour (Anis et al., 2020;Furaiji et al., 2012).In addition, Canadian research also revealed that pricing is the most important reason for switching behaviour (Hasan, Yeasmin, & Dey, 2013).Therefore, pricing might be the basic factor that affects consumer switching behaviour and is often combined with other factors (Kaapanda, 2011;Torlak et al., 2011).
Moreover, research was conducted on Bangladeshi consumers to understand better consumers' switching behaviour concerning mobile phone operators (Al Jamil, Sunny, & Hasan, 2015;Aslam & Frooghi, 2018).The study explored no significant differences between brand loyal consumers and switchers about influencing factors except for supplementary services and value-added services (Karani & Fraccastoro, 2010;Munir et al., 2021).

Problem Statement
For this reason, it is significant to identify factors (price, network coverage, social factors, and promotion) affecting the youth switching behaviour in the cellular industry and validate these factors in the Pakistani context.Furthermore, the present study population consists of young cellular service users because most of the cellular network subscribers in the country consist of Young adults (69%) and are more flexible in switching cellular networks based on external factors.

Pakistani Context
Per the data revenues for June 30, 2020, the Pakistani telecom industry's contribution has increased by 129 % compared to the previous year (Munir et al., 2021).The amount for the mobile service sector accelerated by Rs. 278 billion in the0 against Rs.One hundred twenty-one billion in the previous fiscal year (Anis et al., 2020).According to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority, data revenues will most likely be an upward-moving in the final report; the telecom regulator said that since introducing Third Generation and Forth Generation cellular services, there has been a considerable increase in data services and web-related activities (Afzal, Chandio, Shaikh, Bhand, & Ghumro, 2013).
The heightened increase in data revenues concerning the telecommunication sector of the country allows us to believe that the internet is the core strength of the respective cellular service industry (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018;Kouser, Qureshi, Shahzad, & Hasan, 2012).Moreover, according to forecasts, data revenues will continue to increase in the future (Ibrahim, Shahid, & Ahmed, 2014;Munir & Siddiqui, 2015).
More and more individuals have started to avail internet services due to the following reasons (Shah, Gul, & Qureshi, 2013):  The introduction of Third Generation and Forth Generation internet services  The varying price ranges for cellphones and their easy availability  Free and user-friendly applications that are most suitable for consumers According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the telecom sector attracted $856.7 million of Foreign Direct Investment inflows (Munir et al., 2021).In the Fiscal year (2020), the total foreign direct investment inflows amounted to around 55% (Anis et al., 2020).These inflows are higher than the previous year's amount for the same period.Furthermore, net Foreign Direct Inflows (total inflows minus total outflows) amounted to $100 million as of 2020, compared to a net loss of $188 million in 2013 (Munir et al., 2021).Investment in networks over the years indicates the network operators' likeliness towards increasing and improving the overall experience of 3G/4G networks for consumers (Munir & Siddiqui, 2015).
The telecom industry invests heavily to make 3G and 4G services available nationwide to consumers (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018).The advent of 3G/4G services has significantly increased Frooghi, 2018).The amount of 3G/4G connections rose to 90.5 million in a short passage of time (Anis et al., 2020).Jazz was seen as the markasader last year by the end of December 2020.It had 9.02 million 3G and 23.9 million 4G subscribers.On the other hand, Zong had 5.46 million 3G and 20.16 million 4G subscribers,compared Young Adults' switching behaviour in the Cellular Service Industry of Pakistan to Telenor, which had 4.73 million 3G and 5.53 million 4G subscribers.Moreover, Ufone had the lowest level of subscribers as compared to all other networks.Cellphone broadband users in the nation are forecasted to rise to 47 million about five years down the lane, and to 79 million nearly ten years from now, as per the Telecommunication Authority of Pakistan (Munir et al., 2021).
Over the last decade, Pakistan has become a telecom-based country that provides cellular services to many cities (Afzal et al., 2013).Till 2004, there were only four service providers, i.e.Mobilink, Ufone, Insta and Paktel (Kouser et al., 2012).Paktel had the firstmover advantage in the cellular service industry in Pakistan (Ibrahim et al., 2014).Now there is more competition in the cellular service industry because cellular service providers and users have (A& Frooghi, 2018;Moisescu & Golomoz, 2018).As the competitors grow, the most noticeable thing is that cellular service consumers switch from one service provider to another more frequently than ever before (Shah et al., 2013;Vargas-Hernánez & Salcedo, 2020).
Recent exploratory research conducted in the cellular industry of Pakistan for identifying the determinants of consumer retention identified user-friendly interface, reasonable prices, and clarity in calls as the solid inevitable determinants of retaining consumers in the respective mobile telecommunication industry (Ali et al., 2010;Mazhar & Arshad, 2021).Moreover, a Pakistan study on cellular networks like Ufone, Warid, Telenor, and Zong identified factors that play a major role in satisfying customers and their switching behaviour.The factors identified in the study were price, service quality, trust, and brand loyalty (Afzal et al., 2013;Farhan, Waheed, & Younis, 2020).Furthermore, another study conducted on the telecommunication industry of Pakistan investigated the impact of factors such as consumer perception, advanced telecommunication facilities, friendly interface, low cost and quality on the usage of telecommunication services in Pakistan (Rajput, Kalhoro, & Wasif, 2012).These were identified as customer retention due to the company's aggressive marketing and promotion policies.In contrast, consumer switching behaviour is largely dependent on various strategies by the cellular companies of Pakistan.

Theoretical Framework
Ever-increasing competition and easy availability of mobile telecom operators have assessed variables that affect consumer switching behaviour imperative (Kaapanda, 2011).This study highlights factors such as price, network coverage, social factors, promotional activities, and their influence on consumer switching behaviour in the cellular service sector of Pakistan.

Tariff Package
Tariff refers to the cost of usage.It is the total cost of obtaining a commodity's services, including its purchase price (Agyei & Kilika, 2013;Lim et al., 2018).Price is one of the most crucial factors which plays a key role in consumer switching behaviour (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).It is the amount that a consumer forgoes in exchange for ISSN (Print): 2788-4821 ISSN (Online): 2788-483X Volume 3, Issue 1, Page 1-16, June 30, 2022 another product or service utility (Haque et al., 2010;Anis et al., 2020).Competitive brands try their best to attract potential customers to the brand (Hasan et al., 2013).They use numerous marketing tactics and apply different strategies to position their product as the number one brand in the minds of potential consumers (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018;Ali et al., 2010).They aim to make consumers believe that switching to their brand will prove beneficial and favourable (Karani & Fraccastoro, 2010).
Consumers compare the tariff package before making a purchase decision, which includes call charges per minute, SMS rates, and internet usage with other cellular networks (Afzal et al., 2013;Irfan & Sulaiman, 2021).If unsatisfied with their current network provider, they switch to another cellular service provider with better offerings (Ahmad & Ahmad, 2014;Kouser et al., 2012;Munir et al., 2021).
One of the most important criteria has always been the price (Al Jamil et al., 2015).Service, depending on the price and choice of service, is a heavily evaluated criterion.Price Price-sensitivemers have always been an issue for cellular service providers (Ibrahim et al., 2014).Therefore, it could be hypothhypothesised H1: Price significantly influences young cellular users switching Behaviour in Pakistan.

Network Coverage
"Network coverage refers to the availability, accessibility and signal strength of a network" (Ahmad & Ahmad, 2014, p. 213).Networksubscriberss who experience low signals in their locality is most likely to switch to another network (Kaapanda, 2011).In Karachi, there are some areas where a particular network operator enjoys a monopoly over and above other network operators due to network coverage (Karani & Fraccastoro, 2010;Munir et al., 2021).A cell phone is almost useless without a network.If there is poor network coverage, the basic need to acquire a cell phone is not being fulfilled, thus leading to brand switching behaviour on the consumers' part (Afzal et al., 2013).Consumers take factors like the network to converge area, quality of the network, connection time and sound clarity of the current network operator into account while choosing and switching their cellular network (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018;Kouser et al., 2012;Phunaploy, Nilsook, & Nookhong, 2021).If a network's services do not coincide with customers' expectations, conflicts in satisfactory service rise, leading to switching to another brand in the mobile telecommunication sector (Al Jamil et al., 2015).Therefore, it could be hypothesized that; H2: Network Coverage significantly influences young cellular users switching Behaviour in Pakistan.

Social Factors
Social factors are the facts and experiences that influence an individual's personality, Behaviour and attitude (Anis et al., 2020;Hasan et al., 2013).The companies engage the different social factors characteristic of the target market of a consumer group to enhance a product's appeal to those potential buyers (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018;Ali et al., Young Adults' switching behaviour in the Cellular Service Industry of Pakistan 2010; Munir & Siddiqui, 2015).According to various research associated with the telecommunication industry and consumer switching patterns, major social influencers, such as family and friends, affect consumer switching behaviour in one way or the other (Kaapandaanotherunir et al., 2021).Research suggests social factors play a major role while selecting or swwhenng to cellular networks (Karani & Fraccastoro, 2010;Lim et al., 2018;Phunaploy et al., 2021).Hence, the social factor has also been used as one of the independent variables in this study.Therefore, it could be hypothesized that; H3: Social factors significantly influence young cellular users switching Behaviour in Pakistan.

Promotional Activities
Advertising and promotional activities are essential for the growth of a firm (Furaiji et al., 2012).Products and services need advertising strategies and promotional schemes to create awareness about the brand and position them in the minds of consumers (Ali et al., 2010;Lim et al., 2018).Companies adopt different strategies for raising customers and creating awareness of a product/service, or brand, generating sales, and building brand loyalty (Kaapanda, 2011).Promotional activities are one of the basic elements of the marketing mix eight P's, which deals with one-way communication with consumers (Karani & Fraccastoro, 2010).Price, Promotion, Place, Product, Physical Evidence, People, Process, Productivity and Quality (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).
Companies advertise to make consumers aware of their products and services (Afzal et al., 2013).It can create new target markets or make the current consumers loyal to their product or service (Kouser et al., 2012;Munir et al., 2021).
The promotional kit available to the advertiser includes advertising in various forms, traditional and contemporary, such as sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling (door-to-door service), public relations, and collateral materials (Al Jamil et al., 2015).The advertising tools take television, print media, billboards, electronic media, digital media, and outdoor media (Ibrahim et al., 2014).
Competitors' marketing efforts to outrun their rivals in sales and market share, especially in sales promotions and advertising campaigns, have been the districts of interest amongst researchers (Bhatt & Bamrara, 2012;Nawaz & Usman, 2011).Their promotional and advertising strategies influence brand switching behaviour (Rahman, 2010).Most advertising processes and campaigns aim to stimulate Brand-switching behaviour among consumers (Aslam & Frooghi, 2018;Rahman, Haque, & Ahmad, 2010).The literature provides ample evidence of various forms of advertising-related activities, such as the WOM and numerous other promotional activities, as significant core elements that have an immediate or non-immediate impact on switching patterns (Bhatt & Bamrara, 2012;Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).Subsequently, to have legit and genuine research based on the associated field of the study area, promotional activities have been decided to be used in this study as a determinant of switching behaviour, like price and network coverage discussed above.Therefore, it could be hypothesized that;

Figure 1. Theoretical Framework Methodology
The research design used in this study is descriptive and aligned with Karani and Fraccastoro's (2010) study.A deductive approach was followed, and data collection was cross-sectional (Munir et al., 2021).The present study consists of a primary research strategy, and data were collected by administering structured questionnaires.Nonprobabilistic sampling technique was used.Two hundred seventy (270) questionnaires were floated amongst undergraduate students of private universities of engineering, computer science, and management sciences departments.One hundred eighty-four (184) responses were gathered with a response rate of 68 %.
A questionnaire has been adapted from previous research by Ahmad and Ahmad (2014) and used as a research instrument.Twenty-four (24) items were used, including demographics, to measure the present study variables using a Five (05) points Likert scale (Afzal et al., 2013).However, the literature review has identified various variables affecting Young adults switching Behaviour in the telecom sector.However, considering the scope of the study, only four variables (price, promotions, network coverage, and social factors) have been tested to understand the Young adults switching patterns concerning cellular services.Each variable has a minimum of 3 items and a maximum of 5. Demographics of the study were based on Age, Gender, Cellular Network, Semester, and Department.Three things were used to measure the Price, Network Coverage, and Social factors, whereas four items were used to measure the promotion.Five items were used to measure the switching behaviour.The statistical techniques used for data analysis were the general linear model, mean, and standard deviation.Data analysis was conducted using the statistical software SPSS 20 (Kouser et al., 2012).

Data Analysis
Data were gathered randomly from students of the Computer Science, Engineering, and Management Sciences departments.The total number of students who aided in the data collection process by filling out the questionnaires was 184.Out of the 184 respondents, 12 were from the Computer Science department, 106 were from the Engineering department, and 66 were from the Management Sciences department.Thus, the response percentage was 6.5% of respondents from the computer science department, 57.6% from the Engineering department and 35 from the Management Sciences department.The total number of female respondents was 61, and male respondents were 123.The age of respondents ranged from 16 years to 26 years.
Total male and female respondents from the computer science department were 12, with a mean of 3.2 and a standard deviation of 0.6.The total male and female respondents from the engineering department were 106, with a mean of 2.9 and a standard deviation of 0.7.Finally, the total male and female respondents from the management sciences department were 66, with a mean of 2.9 and a standard deviation of 0.8.

Reliability of Instrument
Statistical software SPSS was used to compute Cronbach's Alpha to test the instrument's reliability.The instrument is reliable if the Cronbach alpha value is higher than 0.60 (Hasan et al., 2013).Table 1 provides the reliability of each measurement variable;

Descriptive Analysis
According to the descriptive analysis, as shown in Table 2, minimum responses for each variable were 1, while maximum responses were 5.The total number of observations was 184.The descriptive statistics for each variable entailed the statistics mentioned above.Network Coverage's mean was 3.08, and its standard error of the mean was 0.06, which means that most of the responses were neutral.Median and mode were 3.33, while variance was 0.69.Price had a mean of 3.10, and its standard error of the mean was 0.05.The median was 3.0, and the mode was 3.0 as well.
Moreover, the standard deviation of price was 0.77, and the variance was 0.6.Promotion's mean was 3.19, and its standard error of the mean was 0.59.It had a median ISSN (Print): 2788-4821 ISSN (Online): 2788-483X Volume 3, Issue 1, Page 1-16, June 30, 2022 of 3.25 and a mode of 3.50.The standard deviation was 0.8, while the variance was 0.64.Furthermore, the social factor's mean was 2.79, and the standard error of the mean of 0.60.The median and mode were 3.0.The standard deviation was 0.8, while the variance was 0.6.Lastly, switching Behaviour had a mean of 2.95 and a standard error of a mean of 0.54.Its median was 3.0, and the mode was 2.8.The standard deviation was 0.7, while the variance was 0.54.The skewness of independent variables was network coverage of -0.231, price -0.232, promotion -0.229 and social factors -0.793, and the dependent variable, Switching Behaviour, is -0.494.The skewness values reflect that the distribution is negatively skewed because all the scores fall towards the higher side of the scale, with very few low scores.Table 03 provides the respondent distribution concerning cellular network users.According to the results of hypothesis testing shown in Table 4, Network Coverage does not significantly influence switching behaviour because sig > 0.05, i.e. 0.070.Similarly, promotion does not substantially affect switching Behaviour since sig > 0.05, i.e. 0.072.However, the price significantly influences switching Behaviour because Young Adults' switching behaviour in the Cellular Service Industry of Pakistan of sig < 0.05, i.e. 0.031.Social factors substantially influence switching Behaviour since sig < 0.05, i.e. 0.000.
Between subject effects test was used to test the influence of price on switching Behaviour.The study results revealed that price significantly influences switching Behaviour on a 95% confidence level since sig (0.031) < 0.05.Therefore, this hypothesis was accepted.On the other hand, the network coverage does not significantly influence switching behaviour since sig (0.70) > 0.05.Thus this hypothesis was rejected.Moreover, social factors substantially influence switching Behaviour on a 95% confidence level, since sig (0.00) < 0.05.Therefore, this hypothesis was accepted.Finally, promotion does not significantly influence switching behaviour since sig (0.716) > 0.05.Therefore, this hypothesis was rejected.
According to Table 5, the price positively correlates with switching behaviour (Beta has a positive value of 0.161), which means that switching Behaviour will also increase if the price increases.Furthermore, network coverage positively correlates with switching behaviour (Beta has a positive value of 0.124).If network coverage is unreliable, switching Behaviour will increase and vice versa.Moreover, social factors positively correlate with switching behaviour (Beta has a positive value of 0.242), meaning that family and friends' influence and word of mouth can drive consumers to switch cellular networks.Lastly, Promotions have a negative relationship with switching behaviour (Beta has a negative value of 0.027), which means that switching Behaviour will not increase if promotions increase.

Conclusion
Factors identified through a comprehensive and in-depth literature review were Price, Promotion, Social Factors and Network Coverage.This research concluded that social factors and price play a significant role in consumer switching behaviour in the cellular service sector.On the other hand, promotion and network coverage do not impact consumer switching behaviour in the cellular service sector.Therefore, as per the literature of this research, price, call rates, promotion, and social factors affect consumer switching behaviour in the cellular service sector.This research indicated that two hypotheses were accepted, i.e.H1 and H3, and two hypotheses were rejected, i.e.H2 and H4.
The study result reveals that Ufone is the most preferred cellular service in Karachi among youth because out of 184 respondents, 85 had Ufone as their cellular service provider.The analysis shows that Ufone customers are highly satisfied with the tariff package and network coverage.The research concluded that Ufone provides its consumers with low call charges, better network coverage, and fast internet, which is why Ufone customers are highly satisfied.
The present study findings are inconsistent with the existing literature.Nawaz and Usman's (2011) study regarding the Indian cellular service industry identified that tariff package, network coverage, and social factors significantly impact switching Behaviour.The survey results indicated that price or tariff packages are the key influencers of consumers' switching behaviour.Bangladeshi research explored that call charges, network coverage, social factors, and better internet facility provoke consumers to switch Behaviour (Al Jamil et al., 2015).Kouser et al. (2012) concluded that inconvenience and service failures are the most important determinants in consumer switching behaviour in countries like Pakistan.
Young Adults' switching behaviour in the Cellular Service Industry of Pakistan In a former study in Pakistan, Rajput et al. (2012) investigated that consumer switching behaviour is determined by the price and quality of a service product.The same study concluded that consumers could be understood and associated with the social influence of family and friends, advertisement and various promotional strategies, standard of living, the purchasing power of consumers, cost of products and services, and the country's economic conditions.
The present study reflects the relationship between price, network coverage, promotion and social factors with switching behaviour for young cellular users in Pakistan.Moreover, data analysis showed that social factors play a major role in consumer switching behaviour in the cellular service sector of Pakistan.It was concluded that Ufone is the most preferred cellular service provider.However, in undergraduate programs, the students choose Ufone as their cellular service provider because it provides low call rates and better SMS and internet packages.Other factors that lead to switching patterns in cellular networks include price, promotional activities, and network coverage, which have no impact on switching patterns.

Significance of Research
The present research has quantitatively signified that several factors may influence Young adults' switching behaviour from one cellular company to another.Cellular companies invest huge sums yearly in marketing new products and services.However, retaining customers is a major portion of the business as it's difficult to convince the latest customer and get familiar with the services.So the present study has offered a strong foundation for the cellular companies to review which áreas are critical to investigate in their business line so that they can retain a large proportion of their customers to keep enjoying their services.With time, price, network coverage, social factors, and promotional activities play a vital role in a rational person's decision to opt for any service.The cellular services providers normally consider only reshaping the existing services for customer retention.However, it's integral to work on cost reduction, increase the network coverage, emphasise the importance of the particular cellular service, and brand it according to one's needs may keep the business growing.

Limitations
This study was cross-sectional.However, the longitudinal approach could have different and better results in understanding the Young adults switching Behaviour in the telecommunications industry.Moreover, time and cost were other limitations of the study.Due to this, the generalizability of present research findings could be affected.Moreover, due to the scarcity of research knowledge, respondents tend to avoid participating in any research activity, making it difficult to get their candid responses.Particularly, in Pakistan, research is quite novel, and people don't want to spend time filling out the questionnaire.So attracting a large sample of the population to participate in the present research was a challenge for the study.

Figure 1 :
Figure 1: Presents the theoretical framework of the present study.