Abstract

Despite the availability of information about telecommunication companies and their services, consumers stick to specific telecommunication brands as a result of brand loyalty even when their services and products are not favourable. To examine the level of brand loyalty among mobile telecommunication consumers of Orange Cameroun and Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) in Buea, a quantitative research design was adopted for the study.

The primary data were obtained through questionnaires as an instrument and using convenience sampling technique, a total of 375 questionnaires were analysed in this study. Four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance and the data for the study were analsed using tables, frequency, percentage and Pearson Correlation.

The findings of the study revealed that perceived value, brand trust, consumer satisfaction, have significant relationship with brand loyalty and there is a high level of brand loyalty among subscribers of mobile telecommunication services in Buea. Based on this, it was recommended among others that mobile telecommunication service providers should ensure continuous improvement on service quality to attract subscribers’ interest to their network service.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

1.1. Background of Study

With how competitive the business world is, it is important for brands to have dominance in their industry and have loyal consumers. The term “brand loyalty” was coined in the 1920s (Bennett, 2001). Brand loyalty is the practice of a consumer purchasing a specific brand’s product on a regular basis regardless of competing brands. Brand loyalty is also characterised as a pattern of recurring purchases and reflects a deliberate decision to keep buying the same brand

The purpose of this study is to determine the level of brand loyalty among MTN and Orange Cameroon telecommunications customers. It also aims to provide a knowledge of the relationship between the drivers of brand loyalty and telecommunication consumers’ habitual usage of goods and services. The identity theory and the theory of planned behavior were used in the study to explain the relationship between the factors of brand loyalty and the development of brand loyalty. The study area was Buea, and the population n were MTN and Orange Cameroon customers in Buea. Cameroon currently has the following telecommunications companies: Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN), Orange Cameroon, Nexttel, Yoomee, Ringo, and Matrix Telecommunications.

The story between Orange Cameroon begins on May 28, 1999, when Orange was known as “Mobilis.” These were the first steps toward the country’s mobile telecommunications age. The youthful operator, Mobilis later changed its name to Orange Cameroon on June 4, 2000. MTN Cameroon later came in the year 2000 and the steady competition to have competitive advantage started in the telecommunication industry in Cameroon. Since the founding of Orange and  MTN, Cameroon has invested heavily in the construction of 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G telecommunications networks, which are now concrete and widely dispersed in the country. Currently, MTN-Cameroon and Orange-mobile Cameroon’s money services account for over 95% of all electronic money transactions.

The quality of their products is one method corporations distinguish themselves from their competitors.  Quality refers to the level of excellence of a product or service, and in a competitive industry, product quality also identifies a product or service. When companies investigate and then address their customers’ needs, wants, and demands, they get a competitive advantage that expresses itself in greater sales and loyal customers (Hult & Ketchen, 2001; Zhu & Nakata, 2007).  However, this is not always the case, particularly when customers have built brand loyalty to specific products as a result of other factors such as trust and perceived value. This makes brand switching tough to achieve.

With Copeland (1923), the marketing field first became interested in brand loyalty on an academic level, with the understanding that brand loyalty only existed at the behavioral level. Purchase sequences, percentage of total purchases, and purchase probability were all used to gauge brand loyalty at the time (Kumar & Advani, 2005) Kabiraj & Shanmugan, 2011; Iglesias et al, 2011). This belief led to a focus on pricing, functionality, and quality when promoting products and services, with the expectation that if these aspects matched the customer’s criteria, they would form a recurrent buying habit (brand loyalty). During the 1950s, however, a new degree of devotion was discovered when brand loyalty became a major research topic.

Cunningham (1967), Day (1969), and Jacoby (1978) were among the first to recognize that the emotional parts of brand loyalty were just as essential as the behavioral ones. When it became clear that brands had both an emotional and a functional component, marketing techniques moved to emphasize connections and value creation (Iglesias et al, 2011).

When it involves brand loyalty, cost and prices might have no effect on consumers who have developed brand loyalty towards specific brands. When the perceived value and trust for a brand is high, it results in consumer satisfaction even if they brand increases prices or quality reduces. Nexttel has low subscription rates as compared to MTN for example that has higher rates for consumers but MTN has more consumers. This is so because, as compared to their competitors like Nexttel and Yoomee, MTN Cameroon and Orange Cameroon are examples of brands with a healthy brand loyalty. Thus, Brand loyalists must have some kind of emotional connection and devotion to a brand (Ozuem, Willis, Howell, Helal, Ranfagni, & Lancaster, 2021)

1.2. Statement of the problem.

In spite of the availability of information about telecommunications companies and their services, consumers remain loyal to specific telecommunication brands due to brand loyalty, even when their services and products are subpar.

As a result, building brand loyalty has become one of the top concerns for any brand, regardless of industry. When consumers lose trust in a brand’s ability to deliver or retain value, they stop patronizing it or lose brand loyalty to it. As a result, developing strong brands is crucial for businesses. A strong brand is critical for gaining a long-term competitive advantage over competitors, particularly in the telecommunications business (Aaker,1991).

As a result, even if a brand’s products or services are of lower quality or more expensive than those of its competitors, their perceived value and brand trust will likely offer them a competitive edge (Aaker 1995). This is due to the fact that brand loyalty is a concept that refers to a consumer’s commitment and attachment to a particular brand. It is the degree to which a customer repeatedly purchases a specific brand over time, even when other options are available in the market (Kumar & Shah, 2004).

1.4 Research Questions

1.4.1 General Research Question

What is the level of brand loyalty among telecommunication users of Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) and Orange Cameroon?

1.4.2 Specific Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between telecommunication consumers’ perceived value of telecommunication products/services and brand loyalty?
2. What is the relationship between telecommunication consumers’ brand trust for telecommunication products/services and brand loyalty?
3. To what extent does consumer satisfaction influence customers’ brand loyalty?

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