International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976

6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
26










AGE EFFECT ON USAGE BEHAVIOR OF MOBILE PHONE SERVICES


Mr. G.C. Pandey
(PhD Scholorar) Dr C.V.RAMAN UNIVERSITY

Dr. Rajeev Shukla
(Professor and Head of Business Management at Shri Vaishnav School of Business Management)

DHARMENDRA KUMAR SINGH
(PhD Scholorar) Dr C.V.RAMAN UNIVERSITY, Kargi Road Kota Bilaspur (C.G)


ABSTRACT

Indian mobile market is witnessing intense competition among service providers and many
innovations in service and price offerings. The introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP)
has further increases the level of competition and the service providers have now not only to plan for
their growth but also they have to look towards survival strategy. The main purpose of the study was
to analyze the effect of Age differences on mobile phone usage behaviour and to identify the factors
that influence users decision making process. Findings of the study revealed Age wise significant
differences for usage frequency and usage intensity of cellular phone services among respondents of
selected sample. Higher age group of cell phone users were found to be more frequent in making
calls and also found to be calling generally for longer duration. Whereas lower age group of
respondents were found to be relatively more users of other features like SMS, entertainment, game
etc. They were also relatively short duration callers than that of higher age group of respondents.

Keywords: Mobile Phones, Mobile Number Portability, Usage Behaviour.

1. INTRODUCTION

Indian mobile market is one of the fastest growing markets with total subscriber base of
943.49 millions (wireless & wire line) and overall tele-density of 78.10 (TRAI, 7th April, 2012).The
technological and marketing advances in the telecommunication sector accompany to a perpetual
expansion of the mobile user base in India. The Indian mobile phone market has reached to the stage
where the growth is driven more by inherent market momentum and is aptly supported by all the
stakeholders. Mobile services have become an integral part of the present day life style. It is finding
new and newer usage as value added services in variety of fields, from mobile banking to internet
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International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
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usage platform etc. Availability of better services, greater choices and increasing awareness, have
lead the Indian consumers for an increasingly demanding better quality of service or else switchover
over to other better service providers.[1][2][3]
The growth of subscribers has witnessed intense competition among service providers and
many innovations in service and price offerings. Managing operations in such a competitive
environment is a big challenge to the service providers. The benchmark of customer satisfaction
level is also increasing day by day. As technology based services are highly fickle and flexibility
level is also high. The competition level is at its best and survival is not as easy as we think. To meet
with the customer need and to fulfil the requirement of them in this competitive environment is the
major objective or any telecom service providers. The introduction of the latest technologies like 4G
and Mobile Number Portability (MNP) has further increases the level of competition and the service
providers have now not only to plan for their growth but also they have to look towards survival
strategy.
The main purpose of the study was to analyze the cellular phone usage behaviour and to
identify the factors that influence users decision making process and level of satisfaction. Since
satisfaction is accepted as one of the determinants of customer switching, this study also assess the
potential switching behaviour of the mobile phone users.[4][6]

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Mobile Number Portability is the process by which, one can move to another operator of
ones choice, but one can retain the old number. It results in increased competition among service
providers to manage customer switching behaviours, which means that customers continue to use
the service category but switch from one service provider to another (Keaveney and Parthasarathy,
2001). [3]
At its most basic level, a companys customer base can be subdivided into two major groups-
Switchers, who have switched from other service providers and stayers, those who are
continuing with their initial service providers (Ganesh, Arnold, and Reynolds, 2000). [5]
Smura (2004) concluded in his research study that MNP helps the firms to acquire new
subscribers, but operators are faced with the task of having to retain their existing subscribers, which
may sometimes be harder to do. [4]
As per the data reported by the service providers, by the end of February 2012 about 37.11
million subscribers have submitted their requests to different service providers for porting their
mobile number (TRAI, 7th April, 2012).[2]

3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main objective of the study was to know the expectation of the customers who are using
the cellular services and the satisfaction levels of customers with the services provided by them. The
other specific objectives of the study were:

To study age effect of cell users on their switching behaviour

To study age effect of cell users on their usage frequency

To study age effect of cell users on their usage intensity

To study age effect of cell users on their level of overall satisfaction of services

International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
28

4. HYPOTHESES

Following hypotheses were stated for the study and tested at 5% level of significance.

H
1
Age wise there is significant difference in switching behaviour of cell phone users.
H
2
Age wise there is significant difference in usage frequency of cell phone users.
H
3
Age wise there is significant difference in usage intensity of cell phone users.

5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The present study is exploratory in nature and non-probabilistic convenience sampling
method used for data collection. Primary data for the study was collected through structured
questionnaire. Items of the questionnaire were extracted through extensive literature review. Five
point Likert scale ranging from Strongly Agree (5) to Strongly Disagree (1) used for measuring
degree of customer satisfaction. For the study 200 cellular phone users of different service providers
such as BSNL, IDEA, Airtel, and Reliance communications were randomly selected in Indore and
Ujjain city of Madhya Pradesh (India).Frequency distribution and Chi square test were used as
statistical tools for the data analysis.

6. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

Profiling of respondents is exhibited in Table 1. 45 % of the respondents were in the age
group of 20-30 year, 23% in the age group of 30-40 years and respondents from other age group
were below 15%. Gender wise respondents were moreover equally split (50.5% female and 49.5%
male). Majority of the users were from salaried class (42%) and 45% were in the monthly income
group of Rs 20000-30000.
Analysis of service usage behaviour of respondents (Table 2) revealed that 71.5% were
stayers (continuing with the same telecom service providers and never switched) and 28.5% are
switchers (those who had switched from another service provider to their current service provider).
Calling time for majority of users was above 1 minute and calling frequency was above 10 calls per
day for majority of respondents (59%).

Table 1: Respondents Profile
Age Frequency Percent
Below 20yrs 26 13.0
20-30yrs 90 45.0
30-40yrs 46 23.0
40-50yrs 24 12.0
Above 50YRS 14 7.0
Gender
Male 99 49.5
Female 101 50.5
Income (in Rs)
Below 10000 9 4.5
10000-20000 27 13.5

International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
29

Age Frequency Percent
Below 20yrs 26 13.0
20-30yrs 90 45.0
30-40yrs 46 23.0
40-50yrs 24 12.0
Above 50YRS 14 7.0
20000-35000 90 45.0
35000-50000 62 31.0
Above 50000 12 6.0
Occupation
self employed 30 15.0
Salaried class 84 42.0
Student 60 30.0
House wives 26 13.0


Table 2: Service Usage Behaviour of Respondents (Total Count 200)
User Behavior User Count %
Continuers 143 71.5
Switchers 57 28.5
Usage Frequency
< 10 calls per day 82 41.0
>10 calls per day 118 59.0
Usage Intensity
< 1 min 14 7.0
1-3 min 61 30.5
3-5 min 67 33.5
> 5 min 58 29.0


Table 3: Age wise distribution of continuers and switchers
Age Continuers Switchers Total
<20yrs 14 12 26
20-30yrs 65 25 90
30-40yrs 36 10 46
40-50yrs 18 6 24
>50YRS 10 4 14
Total 143 57 200





International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
30

Table 4: Age wise Chi-Square Tests for continuers and switchers
Test Parameters Value df P value
Pearson Chi-Square 5.176
a
4 .270
Likelihood Ratio 4.891 4 .299
Linear-by-Linear Association 1.828 1 .176
N of Valid Cases 200

It was revealed in Table 4 hat age wise there was no significant difference observed for
switching or continuing behaviour of the cell phone users. Here the p value was found to be 2.70
(>0.05), hence the alternate hypothesis H
1
was rejected. However it was observed that switching
behaviour are relatively higher for lower age group of cell phone users than the higher age group of
the users. The reason may be that the younger cell phone users are more concerned with the
technology changes and are affected by advertisements and promotional schemes of service
providers.

Table 5: Age wise distribution of Usage frequency
Age <10 calls per day >10 calls per day Total
<20yrs 17 9 26
20-30yrs 35 55 90
30-40yrs 19 27 46
40-50yrs 9 15 24
>50YRS 2 12 14
Total 82 118 200

Table 6: Age wise Chi-Square Tests for usage frequency
Test Parameters Value df P value
Pearson Chi-Square 10.810
a
4 .029
Likelihood Ratio 11.308 4 .023
Linear-by-Linear Association 6.426 1 .011
N of Valid Cases 200

There wise significant difference in cell phone usage frequency was observed for different
age group of users (Table 6). Here the p value was found to be0.029 (< 0.05) hence alternate
Hypothesis H
2
was accepted. Higher age group of cell phone users were found to be more frequent in
making calls. It may be due to their job requirements. Lower age group (especially below 20 years of
age) of cell phone user was found to be relatively low callers. They might be user of other features
like SMS, entertainment, game etc.

Table 7: Age wise distribution of Usage intensity
Age <1 min 1-3 min 3-5 min >5 min Total
<20yrs 7 8 4 7 26
20-30yrs 3 21 33 33 90
30-40yrs 3 20 16 7 46
40-50yrs 1 9 7 7 24
>50YRS 0 3 7 4 14
Total 14 61 67 58 200



International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
31

7. CONCLUSION

The study has provided an insight analysis of Age effect on mobile services usage behaviour.
Age wise significant difference observed for usage frequency and usage intensity of cellular phone
services among respondents of selected sample for the study. Higher age group of cell phone users
were found to be more frequent in making calls and also found to be calling generally for longer
durations. Lower age group of respondents were found to be relatively more users of other features
like SMS, entertainment, game etc. They were also relatively short duration callers than that of
higher age group of respondents. Findings of the study may be useful to provide better insight to the
marketers and for understanding their existing as well as potential customers by knowing and
adopting the findings of age effect on users mobile service usages behaviours.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am thankful to the staff of BSNL Indore for providing me feedback very readily. I am also
thankful to my dearest wife Archana & daughter Ishita for encouraging me all the time during my
research work. More than any one I am indebted to Dr Rajeev Shukla who has been my source of
inspiration for all my research work and has guided me disregarding any inconvenience that I may
have caused to him.

8. REFERENCES

1. Batra, Rajeev and Olli T. Athola (1990), Measuring the Hedonic and Utilitarian Sources of
Consumer Attitudes, Marketing Letters, 2 (2), 159-70.
2. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (7April 2012). "Telecom Subscription Data as on 29
th

February 2012" ,Press Release No. 72/2012.http://www.trai.gov.in.
3. Keaveney S &Parthasarathy M (2001), Customer Switching Behavior in Online Services: An
Exploratory Study of the Role of Selected Attitudinal, Behavioral, and Demographic Factors,
Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, 29 (4), 374-390.
4. Smura (2004), Mobile number portability: Case in Finland, Journal of Arts, Science &
Commerce, Vol. II(4), 200-205.
5. Ganesh J, Arnold M & Reynolds K (2000), Understanding the Customer Base of Service
Providers: An Examination of the Differences between Switchers and Stayers, Journal of
Marketing, 64 (3), 65-87.
6. Wirtz, Jochen; Chung Lee, Meng (2003), An Empirical Study on The Quality and Context-
specific Applicability of Commonly Used Customer Satisfaction Measures, Journal of Service
Research, Vol. 5, No. 4, 345-355.
7. Dr. Atul M. Gonsai and Rushi R. Raval, Analysis and Development of a Service Mash Up
Application for Mobile Users, International journal of Computer Engineering & Technology
(IJCET), Volume 4, Issue 6, 2013, pp. 262 - 268, ISSN Print: 0976 6367, ISSN Online:
0976 6375.
8. Shalini Prasad and S. Balaji, Effectiveness of Energy Management in Mobile Devices: A
Study, International journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering &Technology
(IJECET), Volume 5, Issue 3, 2014, pp. 58 - 69, ISSN Print: 0976- 6464, ISSN Online:
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9. Khaja Mizbahuddin Quadry, Dr. Mohammed Misbahuddin and Dr.A.Govardhan, Security
Issues Vs User Awareness in Mobile Devices: A Survey, International Journal of Advanced
Research in Engineering & Technology (IJARET), Volume 4, Issue 3, 2013, pp. 217 - 225,
ISSN Print: 0976-6480, ISSN Online: 0976-6499.

International Journal of Electronics and Communication Engineering & Technology (IJECET), ISSN 0976
6464(Print), ISSN 0976 6472(Online), Volume 5, Issue 6, June (2014), pp. 26-32 IAEME
32

BIOGRAPHIES

Ganesh Chandra Pandey:- Mr. G C Pandey, born on 8
th
Jan 1958, obtained his BE Electrical in
1980 and M Tech degree in 1990 from MACT Bhopal under Barkatullah University Madhya
Pradesh. He also passed Project Management Professional exam of PMI USA in 2009. He has
undertaken many important assignments of Government of India overseas in Europe, Africa &
Middle East. At present he is pursuing PhD from CV Raman University Chhatisgarh.

Dr Rajeev Shukla:- Dr Rajeev Shukla graduated in Chemical Engineering from Government
Engineering College Raipur in 1991. He completed is MBA from Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Institute
of Business Management of Vikram University Ujjain in 1997. He obtained PhD degree in
management from Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Institute of Business Management of Vikram
University Ujjain in 2003. At present he is serving as Professor and Head of Business Management
at Shri Vaishnav School of Business Management (Shree Vaishnav Institute of Technology and
Science) Indore. He has served in the Industry for many years. He is a certified Energy Manager /
Auditor by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Ministry of Power, and Government of India. He has
many important industrial Business Process Re-Engineering projects to his credit.

Dharmendra kumar:- Dharmendra kumar obtained M. Tech. Degree in Electronics Design and
Technology from Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam in the year 2003.