Determinants of customer loyalty in Korean mobile telecommunications market

Abstract

South Korea has become one of the world’s leading mobile service markets with the launch of its advanced LTE services

the LTE service subscription rate in Korea has exceeded 50% as of November 2013. This development raises the question of how LTE service subscribers may differ from 3G service subscribers. This study examines the validity of the traditional determinants of customer satisfaction in data-service oriented mobile communications markets, analyzes the effects of customer satisfaction and switching costs on customer loyalty, and assesses the difference between 3G and LTE subscribers with respect to their determinants of customer loyalty. The results show that there are significant differences between 3G and LTE subscribers while traditional factors such as call quality, data quality, customer support, and price perception are still significant determinants of customer satisfaction.