A profile of mobile service users in a mature market: from “uninvolved pragmatics” to “potential switchers”

Purpose – Mobile services are expanding rapidly, and in this tremendously dynamic environment, companies should provide value-added services to meet users’ demand. In this context, the study aims to determine whether different user groups exist in this market and profile them. Methodology – Based on...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cristina Calvo-Porral, Luis-Miguel Otero-Prada
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Emerald Publishing 2021-12-01
Series:Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SJME-03-2020-0046/full/pdf?title=a-profile-of-mobile-service-users-in-a-mature-market-from-uninvolved-pragmatics-to-potential-switchers
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Summary:Purpose – Mobile services are expanding rapidly, and in this tremendously dynamic environment, companies should provide value-added services to meet users’ demand. In this context, the study aims to determine whether different user groups exist in this market and profile them. Methodology – Based on the information of 568 mobile service users, a research was developed in the context of a mature mobile services market – Spain. A behavior-based cluster analysis is developed by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), followed by two-step clustering. Then, an ANOVA and post hoc Tukey tests are conducted to confirm differences among the obtained clusters. Findings – The study findings show that mobile service users cannot be perceived as a homogenous group, as different users with different behaviors coexist in this market. More specifically, four behavior-based segments emerge in the mobile service sector: “service connoisseurs,” “uninvolved pragmatics,” “potential switchers” and “delighted loyal”; “potential switchers” being the most challenging segment for mobile service companies. Value – This study reports mobile service users’ heterogeneity; and in turn, mobile service managers should consider customers as four different types, instead of considering them as one single customer.
ISSN:2444-9695
2444-9709