EFFECTS OF LOWER CALL RATES ON CUSTOMER LOYALTY OF THE GLOBAL SYSTEM OF MOBILE COMMUNICATION IN THE SOUTH EASTERN STATES – NIGERIA; A case of Mobile Telephone Network (MTN)

The main objective of the study was to investigate the effects of lower call rates on customer loyalty of the Global system of mobile communication in the south Eastern States of Nigeria, but specifically, the objectives was to determine the relationship existing between MTN TruTalk, MTN XtraPro, MTN mPulse and MTN Xtraspecial Postpaid/Prepaid on customer loyalty of the Global system of the mobile communication. The study was a survey research design. The population of the study consisted of the subscribers of MTN network provider in the South Eastern States of Nigeria. The sample size for the study was 400. The questionnaire used for the study was designed in 5 likert scale and was administered to the respondents through face to face contact. Out of the 400 questionnaires, 351 questionnaires were properly filled and returned. The hypotheses were tested using the Spearman Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (SPMCC) statistical tool. This was facilitated through the use of statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 20. The findings of the study revealed that high level significant relationship existed between MTN TruTalk, MTN XtraPro, MTN Xtraspecial Postpaid/Prepaid on customer loyalty of the Global system of mobile communication. This implied that subscribers will stay with the network provider as long as the network provider has the ability to satisfy subscribers’ various needs and meet customer requirements. The study recommended that the network provider should continue to use the various sub-variables of the independent variable in this study to attract subscribers who uses price to make choice in service delivery. They should make their pricing strategies known to the subscribers for repeat purchase. They should also, regularly carryout research to identify when the needs of their subscribers changed and the different pricing strategies of other competitors to remain competitive in satisfying them.