Abstract

Cellular industry of Pakistan has grown many folds in recent years. Many new entrants have also joined the market to reap the potentials of this growing industry. This situation has originated a hyper competition among major cellular service providers in Pakistan. Companies are working hard to introduce more innovative and eye-catching products to attract customers. The companies with large consumer base are striving to reduce their switching costs. However the main concerns of the cellular service providers is to retain the existing customers. This research is designed to find out the determinants of consumer retention in cellular industry of Pakistan. This is an exploratory study based on primary data which was collected from University students of Pakistan. The study found user friendliness, price reasonability and call clarity as strongest determinants of consumer retention in cellular industry of Pakistan. Although the findings of this study are specific to cellular industry in Pakistan, these may be generalized to any other market passing through transitional phase of rapid growth and characterized by low paying capacity of customers.

Key words: Customer satisfaction, consumer retention, switching cost, cellular industry, Pakistan.