The effects of price promotions on building a customer base within the Ghanaian mobile Telecommunication industry; the case of Vodafone Ghana

Sammanfattning: The recent advances in telecommunication have led to increase in the number of subscriptions to mobile telecommunication networks in Ghana. In today’s competitive telecom market place several marketing communication tools are used by telecom operators in Ghana to retain existing customers and also add on to their customer base. Price related promotion is one such marketing communication tools and the impact of sales promotions in increasing subscriber base forms the basis of this study. We review some sales promotions, its impact on subscription, customer perception about the effects of price promotions in telecommunications, as well as benefits customers realize. The National Communication Authority, the communications regulator, reported 17.437mn mobile subscribers in Ghana at the end of December 2010 which represented overall growth of 15.4% in 2010. This increased growth was as a result of increased subscriber uptake from lower call tariffs introduced by telecom service providers in mid-2010 and promotional offers that were introduced to attract new customers. Promotions thus played a role in this growth rate. Price promotions are used to a large extent to increase sales in today’s competitive markets; there are serious repercussions however, if they are applied wrongly. Hence, this thesis seeks to examine the effects of price promotions on building a customer base within the Ghanaian mobile Telecommunication industry. Questionnaires were administered together with online survey to ascertain what the consuming public feels about sales promotion and how that affects their subscription to a telecom service provider. In all printed survey questionnaires were administered and online survey launched and together there was 84.5% response rate. The results show interesting trends in the market place and consumer perception of the numerous sales promotions given out by the telecom companies. Apart from what this research seeks to contribute theoretically, we see the results as quite relevant to both consumers and service providers. This work gives the mobile telecommunication service providers information on how consumers view their price related sales promotions and thus the need to intensify their consumer education in respect of promotions offered and the benefits of taking advantage thereof and subscribing to a service. For the consumer, accepting that the promotions are meant to give them value for money, retain them and also get new ones on board would increase their adoption rate and also enable them to make an informed decision, among other factors, when considering a mobile telecommunication service provider.