Pull Factors as Determinants of Telephone Number Portability among Mobile Phone Users in Public Universities in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined pull factors as determinants of telephone number portability among mobile phone users in public universities in Nigeria. This study limited its scope to the southwest only in Nigeria. The study covers twelve (12) public owned universities in Southwest Nigeria. Probability and non probability sampling techniques was used to sample a total of 1522 staff and students in the study area out of the population of 313,001. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics include frequency counts and simple percentages, while inferential statistics such as logistic regression were used. The study revealed that pull factors (PUF):, promotional offer (β = 0.395, p < 0.05), this showed that if there is an increase in the promotional offer by network provider, the likelihood of attracting new customer to port in favor of the network provider will be high and brand image of the service providers (β =0.314, p < 0.05), impact significantly on intention to port, this showed that good responsibilities of network providers will pull customers to their favor. Based on these findings, this study concluded that porting to another service provider could be significantly facilitated by marketing activities of competitors. Competitors' offer such as promotional activities, organized and well packaged image of providers can significantly drive porting. It could also be concluded from the same findings that current service providers can ‘control' intention to port by customers if they apply the same or similar promotional strategies of competitors to their current service package. The implication is that the attractiveness to the competitors can easily be enjoyed with current providers. Thus, it was concluded that PUF significantly determine mobile number portability.