research proposal ba muhammad ahsan 8087

7/27/2019 Research Proposal BA Muhammad Ahsan 8087

1/6

Name: Muhammad Ahsan

SID: 1248398/1

LS ID: 8087

Course: BA (HONS) Marketing.

Research Proposal:

Customer retention

marketing

Mobile telecommunications a

study of the customers of

Ufone, Pakistan


2/6

Contents

Introduction............................................................................................................................................ 3

Working title........................................................................................................................................... 3

Research question ............................................................................................................................... 3

Aims and objectives of research........................................................................................................ 3

Background literature review .............................................................................................................. 4

Research methods ............................................................................................................................... 4

Research approach.............................................................................................................................. 5

Research strategy ................................................................................................................................ 5

Gantt chart............................................................................................................................................. 5

References............................................................................................................................................ 6


3/6

Introduction

The following report is a proposal intending to conduct a dissertation on the subject of customer

retention is in the mobile telecommunications industry. According to Buttle and Ang, (2004),

customer retention can be considered as the final phase of a relationship management within

which the first two stages are the customer acquisition and customer development. Many theories

have been developed based on the benefits of increased levels of customer retention for any

organisation. Several studies have propounded that increased levels of customer retention

contributes to increased profits and revenue as well as the intangible benefits of customer loyalty

contributing to long-term sustainability of the organisation. Moreover there is adequate data on

the subject of the feasibility of customer retention for a mass-market service-based organisation

in the mobile telecommunications sector.

Working title

The main area of research is customer retention in the mobile telecommunication industry in the

Pakistan and it is proposed that a case study approach is adopted to conduct that research on the

subject. Waste on this the following working title is adopted.

Customer retention strategies of the mobile telecommunication service organisations in the

PakistanA study of the customers of Ufone Mobile Pakistan

Research question

1. To critically evaluate the effectiveness of positive and negative strategies in increasing the

retention ratio of customers

Aims and objectives of researchThe proposed research will aim to critically evaluate the concept of customer retention and the

effectiveness of positive and negative retention strategies on the customers of the mobile

telecommunication service organisations in the Pakistan. Since a case study approach is utilised,

Three Mobile which is a prominent service provider in the Pakistan is selected for the study and

the customers of Ufone will be the population under the study.

The objectives of the research are as follows


4/6

1. To critically evaluate the concept of customer retention contributing to increased profitability

and sustainable revenue generation.

2. To analyse the effectiveness of positive and negative retention strategies employed by

organisations in the mobile telecommunication service industry.

3. To recommend a mix of positive and negative retention strategies to be employed by Ufone

for its customers in Pakistan.

Background literature review

Two prominent researchers Francis Buttle and Lawrence Ang have contributed significantly to

the development of the research literature available on the subject of customer retention. For the

proposed research the author will be basing the theoretical models developed by the above-

mentioned authors and will undertake a critical evaluation of their concept with the use of peer-

reviewed literature. The classifications of customer retention strategies and some of their main

descriptions are provided in the previous section. Since the main object is to analyse the

effectiveness of positive and negative retention strategies, the author is providing relevant

theoretical concepts about the studies conducted by previous researchers on the aspect of positive

and negative retention strategy employed in different types of industries.

The positive retention strategy is considered that there was to the customer for continuedpatronage Alamaro, (2011) and negative retention strategy is the development of exit barriers or

switching cost which either can be developed by the organisation itself or marketing induced

(Buttle and Ang, 2004). According to Huber, (2008),a combination of positive and negativeretention strategies are employed by many of the organisations but most of them do not evaluate a

comparative assessment of or the effectiveness of the different types of practical aspects involved

in the strategies. A research conducted by Oztayasi and Sezgin, (2011),have suggested thatpositive retention strategies are only effective after a long period of time mainly because of the

loyalty creation concept employed in conjunction with such strategies. A further research by

Tesform and Birch (2011) who conducted an empirical assessment of the frequent flyer program(loyalty program in the airline industry) it has been found that the effectiveness of providing a

frequent flyer program in retaining profitable customers a significantly low.

Research methods

When considering the methodology to be adopted, it is necessary to provide the reader about the

development of knowledge from the primary as well as the secondary data. The methodology in

which a research needs to be conducted involves the philosophy of research, the approach and the

strategy and for the proposed research, these are evaluated below.


5/6

Research approach

The two approaches towards the research are deductive and inductive (Saunders, Lewis and

Thornhill, 2009). Deductive reasoning is theory or hypothesis testing and inductive reasoning is

theory or hypothesis development (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). The proposed research

will base itself on the theoretical concepts developed by previous researchers and will only

evaluate or compare the positive and negative retention strategies. The main hypothetical

question is about the effectiveness of the positive or negative retention strategies in the mobile

telecommunication service industry. Hence the deductive reasoning or approach will be utilised

for the proposed research.

Research strategy

Quantitative and qualitative research strategies can be employed and hence the proposed research

will be adopting a positivist philosophy based on scientific principles, it is pertinent that a

quantitative research strategy is employed. Quantitative research strategy will provide the

researcher with the ability to collect data which is numerical informed and analyse them using

statistical or mathematical techniques. Qualitative data will be subjective and hence may not be

adequate in a comparison of the positive and negative retention strategies. Hence the proposed

research will be undertaken using a quantitative research methodology.

Gantt chart

Work Plan/Weeks 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

Proposal

Compilation of aim and objectives

Critical Literature Review

Research Method selectionResearch Design

Data Collection

Data Analysis

Compiling Information

Revising and Editing

Final Submission after Binding


6/6

References

1. Ahmad, R. and Buttle, F., (2002) Customer retention management: a reflection of theory and

practice, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, Vol. 20 Iss: 3, pp.149 1612. Alamaro, A., (2011), Antecedents of brand preference for mobile telecommunications

services, Journal of product and brand management, volume 20, issue 6, pages 475 to 486.

3. Buttle, F. and Ang, L., (2004), Management competencies for successful customer retention,

Macquarie graduate school of management.

4. Buttle, F. and Ang, L., (2006) Customer retention management processes: A quantitative

study, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 40 Iss: 1/2, pp.83 99

5. Clayton-Smith, D., (1996) Do It Alls loyalty programme and its impact on customer

retention, Managing Service Quality, Vol. 6 Iss: 5, pp.33 37

6. Coyles, S. and Gokey, T. C., (2005) Customer retention is not enough, Journal of

Consumer Marketing, Vol. 22 Iss: 2, pp.101105

7. Gould, B, (1998) The rise, fall and return or customer retention at MCI, Antidote, The, Vol.

3 Iss: 5, pp.4040

8. Henning-Thurau, T. and Hansen, U., (2000), Relationship marketing; gaining competitive

advantage through customer satisfaction and customer retention, Springer publications Ltd.

9. Huber, M., (2008), From customer retention to a holistic stakeholder management system;

leading innovation, Springer publications Ltd.

10.Oztayasi, B. and Sezgin, S., (2011), A measurement tool for customers relationship

management process, Industrial management and data systems, volume and 11, issue six,

pages 943 to 960.

11.Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A., (2009), Research methods for business students,

Pearson education publications Ltd.

12.Tesform, G. and Birch, N. J., (2011), Do switching barriers in the retail banking industry

influence and customers in different age groups differently, Journal of services marketing,volume 25, issue 5, pages 371 to 380.

research proposal ba muhammad ahsan 8087

Documents