The purpose of this paper is to show the importance of understanding consumer behaviour through research, in two main areas of the telecommunications market place. Firstly, it will discuss the importance of considering the consumer within the broader context of the macro-economic and social environment. It will then present findings of attitudinal research identifying major factors which impact the way in which consumers think about and ultimately acquire new technology-based products and services - the thesis being that supply- side and technologically deterministic approaches are too simplistic. The paper will then discuss how companies - such as telecom operators - need to extend this understanding of the consumer in their approach to the marketing communications of their products and services and also to how they maintain customer relationships. As competition in the telecom environment takes hold, this will be critical to the success of any operator or equipment provider.
The first part of this paper discusses the perspectives and problems of multimedia market, focusing the difficulty in defining the dimension, the characteristics and trends of this market. The second part describes the difficulty of the market researchers in answering these questions because both supply and demand are missing, not yet identifiable. Researchers are thus deprived of the traditional reference points any market research study is based upon. The paper analyses these issues, suggesting some considerations on the change in the role of the market research in studying the multimedia market and on the adoption of new approaches to our traditional methodologies.
In a competitive environment, quality of service in voice telephony plays an increasingly important role both from a policy point of view and from a strategic point of view. Measuring, comparing and informing on quality of service will, therefore, become a standard activity by telecommunications operators and their regulators. Following a broad overview on the influence of liberalisation on quality of service, the paper reviews some of the main sources of information about quality of service for voice telephony (ITU, OECD, NRAs, telecommunication operators, etc.) and the methodological difficulties associated with an international comparison of quality of service. The paper will conclude with a comparison of currently published quality of service reports by telecommunications operators and provide some suggestions as to how these reports can help with strategic and tactical issues.
This paper describes a computer system having quality of service data available the moment decision makers need it. To manage Quality of Service, France Telecom uses a customized system which provides decision makers with statistical information and performance indicators to evaluate quality performance, diagnose dysfunctions, analyze cause and effect relations, set forecasting goals and plan actions. This automized statistical information system contains monthly Quality of Service data related to different layers of management (regions, business units, exploitation units) during a four year period. The historical data is saved for other specific applications. The Quality of Service information system is put on line for different types of telecommunication users: executives, top managers, middle managers, front-line managers, experts and consultants.
This paper describes a customer satisfaction programme carried out for Telewest Communication. It focuses on the initial selling of the survey to the internal clients and the communication of the results to the different audiences within Telewest. The paper also touches on key features of the research programme itself
This paper will examine some of the reasons for the price diversity in the telecom market, and some of the factors that are driving the operators to keep changing their prices. Price information is becoming more and more important, and different sources and data formats are available. It is important to find the most suitable and up to date source, as the quality of the end results will depend on it. With all the different prices and price structures offered today, making even simple cost comparisons is becoming difficult. Software tools are needed to simplify the task, and to ensure comparability across services and providers.
The process of categorising customers is traditionally based on simple slotting procedures or more extensive survey data. The first procedure might be inaccurate and/or uncertain, the latter complicated, time- consuming, and most of all expensive. It was therefore a prioritised objective for Telenor Mobil, to try to compose an algorithm to predict customer segments in a more straight forward and smooth way, based on easily accessible data. That is, to be able to predict segment membership among all subscribers in the customer database, based on already registered variables.
The telecommunications industry has become dynamic due to the growth of new services, introduction of new technologies, and increasing competition between telecom operators. In such a dynamic situation it is difficult to take a snap-shot of the industry, and to predict how long this snap-shot would hold. Therefore, instead of taking a snap-shot, it is more fruitful to understand the industry drivers and their relationships. Such an analysis shows that the competition between the telecom operators is the key industry driver. In order to compete, an operator needs to dynamically provision services with the help of cost-competitive state-of-the-art technology. This key observation helps an equipment supplier (network and consumer equipment) to understand the needs of a telecom operator.
This document presents the system of surveys and indicators, in use since 1987 which allows France Telecom to monitor customers on a permanent basis. It then goes on to explain how this set-up mobilises and stimulates operational units. It also describes the role and the missions of a permanent group of experts, which advises on the conception, production and diffusion of the programmeâs results. The role and missions of experts are illustrated by nearly a dozen examples of operations. The conclusion brings out the main items of our review of ten years of customer monitoring, together with the facilityâs prospects for future development.
The paper outlines one of the major programmes of market research conducted by Mercury One 2 One prior to the launch of its mobile telephone service in the United Kingdom. It describes some of the research techniques and procedures used in the process of developing an initial consumer definition and segmentation of the potential target market.
Information Technologies can be considered as a single market, constituted by many interdependent market areas. It is a multidisciplinary market, more and more complex to understand from a technological point of view but also from a marketing point of view. This market is dominated by the offer and where you are better off among the leaders. The managing of changes is essential if one wants to build a better marketing strategy. This very dynamic market place offers a challenge for market research companies. Indeed, traditional market research is not really adapted in this context for reflection about marketing strategy. New offers must be made, allowing a better understanding of the market (i.e. of the supply-side) and a better understanding of the consumer (individuals or companies). That is what we call "monitoring of the market" and "monitoring of the consumer".
Deregulation is creating competition in the communications industry, allowing telephone service providers, media companies and other firms to offer everything from local telephone services to video-on-demand. Businesses are especially being targeted by alternate providers to switch services. Thus, predicting preference and likely market share for new competitors is a critical business issue. We present a case study of research conducted by US West and Time Warner Communications to quantify the potential for medium and large corporations and government agencies to switch their business from the incumbent local telephone provider to companies offering similar services. Results are based on a survey of 1,3 telecom and datacom managers in twelve cities in the United States, using a phone- mail methodology. We describe our approach to predicting preferences and likely market share using a designed discrete choice experiment. We also show how customer preferences were combined with managerial judgements of the potential behaviors of likely competitors to predict share gains and losses using a dynamic diffusion model.