Prioritising the preference of factors affecting the mobile network selection: A combination of factor analysis and best worst method

• Published date: 01 February 2022
• Author: Aashish Garg,Sanjay Gupta,Manoj Mathew,Simarjeet Singh
• Date: 01 February 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2345

ACADEMIC PAPER

Prioritising the preference of factors affecting the mobile

network selection: A combination of factor analysis and best

worst method

Aashish Garg

1

| Sanjay Gupta

2

| Manoj Mathew

3

| Simarjeet Singh

1

1

University School of Applied Management,

Punjabi University, Patiala, India

2

Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and

Management, Ludhiana, Panjab University,

Chandigarh, India

3

Department of Mechanical Engineering,

SSIPMT, Raipur, India

Correspondence

Sanjay Gupta, Sri Aurobindo College of

Commerce and Management, Ludhiana, Panjab

University, Chandigarh, India.

Email: researchsaccm@gmail.com

The last two decades have witnessed enormous growth in wireless communication

all over the world. The customers are the key concern of the marketers in this sector

and marketers are trying their best to reach afar the expectations of the customers

which makes them ready to serve customers 24*7. Customers in today's modern

world have now become more informed with multiple options available due to which

it has become a cumbrous job for marketers to retain or gain customers in the tele-

com sector. By gaining insights into preferences and expectations of customers

regarding mobile network services can aid marketers to survive in this competitive

sector. The study was conducted in two phases. In the First Phase, data were col-

lected from 308 employees working in retail outlets operating in Punjab and Chandi-

garh who are directly dealing with customers. Factor analysis was conducted to

explore the factors which according to them are significant for customers. In the sec-

ond phase, the best-worst multi-criteria decision-making technique was applied on a

sample of 262 customers to prioritized or rank the factors based on significance for

preference toward telecom service provider selection according to customers.

Results of the study depicted Network/Signal coverage and price as the highest-

ranked and prioritized factor for consumers while preferring telecom service opera-

tors. While Brand image emerged as the least important factor. Data were collected

in the area of Punjab and Chandigarh only. The study was conducted at a one-time

point due to which changes in the perception of the customers have not been con-

sidered. So, these are the limitations of the study. The research study is highly useful

for telecom companies to target the highly prioritized factors of preference which

will assist them in surviving and gaining an advantage over competitors. Previous

researches have explored the factors preferences toward mobile telecom service pro-

vider and modeled their relationships. But the present study has employed the multi-

criteria decision-making technique to add value to the existing knowledge base.

1|INTRODUCTION

The last two decades have witnessed enormous growth in wireless

communication all over the world. Communication with friends, fam-

ily, and colleagues is now a basic necessity of the individuals. This

necessity had given rise to the usage of mobile communication

services at the global level for which they require mobile communica-

tion operators. Mobile telephones act as a source of social interac-

tions, which creates a widely networked worldwide environment

connecting diverse nations, cultures, creeds, and so on. The purpose

of using a mobile phone can be different, like emails, music, games,

talking, education, etc. This growth in mobile services communication

Received: 28 May 2020 Revised: 19 July 2020 Accepted: 30 July 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2345

J Public Affairs. 2022;22:e2345. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1of10

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2345