While the Mobile Phone Market has Grown to Near Saturation Level, Customer Loyalty has Shrunk

While the Mobile Phone Market has grown to near saturation level, customer loyalty to service providers, mobile devices and operating systems has shrunk to new lows, even among those customers that are considered “Promoters” of the brand

Semi-annual and monthly research conducted by Phoenix Marketing International among wireless users indicates that over 1/3 of current wireless customers intend on switching service providers in the next year and nearly 2/3 plan on replacing their current mobile device with one from a different manufacturer. A startling 25% of so called service provider promoters plan on switching providers in the next year.

Phoenix Marketing International, one of the top research companies in the U.S., released s ummary findings from two studies conducted among mobile phone users. While results vary significantly by brand, overall findings show that the often used Net Promoter Score customer metric needs to be enhanced by other information in order to develop an actionable understanding of brand health and direction. Of those that are considered promoters (highly likely to recommend a brand), 24% are still planning to switch service providers, 49% will change their device brand, 36% will switch de vice operating systems, and 26% will purchase their device at a differe nt location. Surprisingly, 40% of those that are classified as Service Providers “Detractors” (would not recommend their provider) report that they will continue to use the same provider at the time of their next purchase.

“Based on our data we have developed a new NPS Enhancer offering for the Wireless industry. This innovative approach combines traditional sur vey data with our partner Mobile Posse’s ability to access over 15 million wireless feature and smartphone users directly via push technology,” says John Schiela, President of Phoenix’s Converged Technology and Media Practice. “Utilizing their Home Screen messaging methodology we can track the customer experiences of mobile users across key impact points in their lif ecycle, such as first week of purchase, first month after purchase and month before contract expiration. This information can be combined and pushed into client CRM solutions that will provide real time actionable checkpoints and allow clients to enhance their overall customer expe rience and increase their brand loyalty.

“By analyzing this data in conjunction with real behavioral data we have uncovered some very surprising and powerful insights. For example, while Huawei users have one of the initial lowest satisfaction rates with their self-identified most important phone feature, th ey have one of the highest growth rates of actual loyalty as measured by repeat purchase.”

The semi-annual Convergence 360 Study and Monthly NPS Enhancer cover th e U.S. Consumer Mobile Communications Market and covers brands such as AT&T, Boost, Tracfone, US Cellular, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon Wirel ess, Apple, Samsung, Motorola, LG, Nokia, Blackberry, HTC, Pantech, Kyocera, Huawei, Microsoft, Windows, Android, Java, Brew.

For more information, visit:
http://www.phoenixmi.com