http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jce/pages/v11i6.html

1. IOSR Journal of Computer Engineering (IOSR-JCE)
e-ISSN: 2278-0661, p- ISSN: 2278-8727Volume 11, Issue 6 (May. - Jun. 2013), PP 83-88
www.iosrjournals.org
www.iosrjournals.org 83 | Page
Customers Attitude toward Mobile Service Providers in
Hyderabad
Yousef Mehdipour*, Hamideh Zerehkafi**
* PhD Scholar, Institute of Advanced Study in Education, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India. 500007.
** MBA Student, College of Commerce and Business Management, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
Abstract: Measuring customer attitude provides an indication of how successful the organization is at
providing products and/or services to the marketplace. Indian mobile industry has witnessed a dramatic growth.
Cheap mobile handsets, affordable airtime rates, low initial cost and affordable monthly rentals made it easy
for anybody to go mobile. As per latest statistics India has around 160 million mobile subscribers. Le Roux
(1994) defines attitude to be a positive or negative emotional relationship with or predisposition toward an
object, institution or person. Customer satisfaction is a collective outcome of perception, evaluation, and
psychological reactions to the consumption experience with a product or service. This research article
investigated the attitude of customers to mobile communication. All the customers of mobile in Hyderabad city
(Andhra Pradesh) constituted the population. Air Tel, Vodafone, Idea, Cell One are the four companies which
are included in study. The sample of the study is 2600 customers that randomly selected. A questionnaire was
developed and validated through pilot testing and administered to the sample for the collection of data. The
internal consistency of the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha method and the coefficient of
internal consistency obtained was 0.82. The researcher personally visited respondents, thus 100% data were
collected. The collected data were tabulated and analyzed by SPSS. Results showed that Air Tel has major share
in market and among customers Vodafone has larger share than Air Tel. Reasons like Packages offered by
Vodafone are attracting, which makes it a have a larger share. Services and network of Air Tel is good compare
to the other players in the market but it is Vodafone which offers better packages.
This study showed that most of the respondents need improvement in service. Majority of respondents gave an
Good rate for “mobile service providers”.
Keywords: Attitude , Communication , Customer, Mobile, service providers.
I. Introduction
Organizations need to retain existing customers while targeting non-customers. Measuring customer
attitude provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing products and/or services to the
marketplace. Businesses monitor customer attitude in order to determine how to increase their customer base,
customer loyalty, revenue, profits, market share and survival. Customer attitude in turn hinges on the quality and
effects of their experiences and the goods or services they receive. Although greater profit is the primary driver,
exemplary businesses focus on the customer and his/her experience with the organization. They work to make
their customers happy and see customer satisfaction as the key to survival and profit.
Attitude is inner feeling or beliefs of an individual towards particular phenomena. Attitudes are an
expression of inner feelings and beliefs that the reflect whether a person is favorably or unfavorably pre-
disposed to some phenomenon.
The word “attitude” is defined within the framework of social psychology as a subjective or mental
preparation for action. It defines outward and visible postures and human beliefs. Le Roux (1994) defines
attitude to be a positive or negative emotional relationship with or predisposition toward an object, institution or
person . Chambers and Pettman (1986) have shown that both feelings and information are critical factors in the
formation of attitudes, and that these are critical components of understanding.
Attitudes determine what each individual will see, hear, think and do. They are rooted in experience and do not
become automatic, routine conduct. Furthermore, “attitude” means the individual's prevailing tendency to
respond favorably or unfavorably to an object (person or group of people, institutions or events) (Morris &
Maisto, 2005). Attitudes can be positive (values) or negative (prejudices). According to Lord (1997) and
Kreitner and Kinicki (2007), there are three components of attitudes: affective, cognitive and behavioral. The
affective component is a feeling or an emotion one has about an object or situation. The cognitive component is
the beliefs or ideas one has about an object or situation, whereas the behavioral component of attitude reflects
how one intends to act or behave towards someone or something (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2007).
On the other hand, Customer satisfaction is a collective outcome of perception, evaluation, and psychological
reactions to the consumption experience with a product or service (Yi, 1990). Establishing and achieving
customer satisfaction is the main goal of businesses nowadays because there is a strong relationship between the

2. Customers Attitude Toward Mobile Service Providers In Hyderabad
www.iosrjournals.org 84 | Page
quality of product, customer satisfaction and profitability (Fecikova, 2004). Kotler (2003) states that there is a
general agreement that satisfaction is a person’s feelings of pleasure or disappointment resulting from
comparing a product perceived performance (or out come) in relation to his or her expectations. In order to
achieve customer satisfaction, Companies should measure it because according to Ho, (1995) you can not
manage something that you can not measure it.
Telephony introduced in India in 1882. The total number of telephones in the country stands at 960.9
million, while the overall Tele-density has increased to 79.28% as of May 31, 2012; and the total numbers of
mobile phone subscribers have reached 929.37 million as of May 2012. The mobile Tele-density has increased
to 76.68% in May 2012.
In last decade Indian mobile phone industry has witnessed a dramatic growth. Cheap mobile handsets,
affordable airtime rates, low initial cost and affordable monthly rentals made it easy for anybody to go mobile.
India has the fastest growing telecom network in the world with its high population and development potential.
Airtel, Idea, Reliance, Tata DoCoMo, BSNL,Cell One, Aircel, Tata Indicom, Vodafone, MTNL, and Loop
Mobile are other major operators in India. However, rural India still lacks strong infrastructure. India's public
sector telecom company BSNL is the 7th largest telecom company in world.
Bharti Airtel is the world's third largest mobile telecommunications company with over 266 million
subscribers across 20 countries as of August 2012. It is the largest cellular service provider in India, with 265.56
million subscribers as of October 2012. Airtel is the third largest in-country mobile operator by subscriber base,
behind China Mobile and China Unicomcon.
Vodafone India , formerly Vodafone Essar and Hutchison Essar, is the third largest mobile network
operator in India after Airtel and Reliance Communications by subscriber base. It is based in Mumbai,
Maharashtra. It has approximately 147.48 million customers as of December 2012. IDEA Cellular has licenses
to operate in 11 circles with a customer base of over 113 million as of December 2012. BSNL is the next largest
player in the Indian market with 96.28 million customers as of October 2012.
If the service providers capture another 10 to 15 % share in untouched market it is huge business for
the major service providers in the market. The subscribers will opt to one service provider if they are satisfied
with the service offered is meeting their expectations. In that the network of the service provider will play a vital
role. The young customers are opting for a service provider if they are getting good packages, latest technology,
and uninterrupted network.
The usual measures of customer attitude involve a survey with a set of statements using a Linker
Technique or scale. The customer is asked to evaluate each statement in terms of their perception and
expectation of performance of the service being measured. American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) is a
scientific standard of customer satisfaction. The ACSI measures customer attitude and satisfaction annually for
more than 200 companies in 43 industries and 10 economic sectors.
II. Statement Of The Problem
Measuring customer attitude provides an indication of how successful the organization is at providing
products and/or services to the marketplace. Customer attitude survey is a systematic process for collecting
consumer data, analyzing this data to make it into actionable information, driving the results throughout an
organization and implementing attitude survey is a management information system that continuously captures
the voice of the customer through the assessment of performance from the customers’ point of view.
The setting of objective is the core stone of a systematic study. The study will be fruitful one when the basis laid
down is a concrete one they represent the desired solution to the problem and help in proper utilization of
opportunities.
III. Objectives Of Study:
The objectives of the research are:
1) To compare efficiency and quality of the service providers.
2) To find out the market share of major service providers.
3) To know the features that attracts the customer to subscribe to service providers.
4) To know the level of satisfaction of customers towards service provides.
IV. Material and Methodology
Design Of The Study
The design of the study is a descriptive survey which attempts to collect data from members of a population in
order to determine the current status of the population
Area Of The Study
The study was carried out in Hyderabad City (Andhra Pradesh state, India).

3. Customers Attitude Toward Mobile Service Providers In Hyderabad
www.iosrjournals.org 85 | Page
Population Of Study
The target population comprised of all the customers of mobile service providers in Hyderabad.
Sample And Sampling Techniques
The sample consisted of 2600 customer that randomly were selected from population in Hyderabad city (Andhra
Pradesh State).
Instrument For Data Collection
One questionnaire was used in order to collect the views of customers. The instrument used for data collection
was a 20 item that developed and validated by the researcher. The internal consistency of the instrument was
determined using Cronbach alpha method and the coefficient of internal consistency obtained was 0.81.
PROCEDURE OF THE STUDY
In order to get data from the respondents through the above instruments, the researcher visited the
sample customers personally and administered the questionnaires to the sample customers. The respondents
were requested to record their free, frank and independent responses. An assurance was given to the respondents
that their responses shall be kept confidential and information collected will be used only for the purpose for it
was collected. The collected data were analyzed by using Excel 2007 software.
V. Findings And Conclusion:
 In this study 18% respondents are in the age group of 15-25 years, 54% respondents are in the age group of
26-35 years, 23% respondents are in the age group of 36-45 years, and 5% respondents are in the age group
of 46 and above.
 41% respondetns were businessmen, 36% employees, 15% students, 5% professionals, and 3% respondetns
were other occupations.
 19% respondents were in the income group of less than Rs.5000, 49% in the income group of Rs. 5000-
10000, 21% in the income group of Rs. 10000-15000, and 11% were in the income group of Rs 15000 and
above.
 15.5% respondants are using Idea, 36% Airtel, 39.5% Vodafone, 9% cell one. From this we come to know
that largest segment of respondents are of Vodafone then comes Airtel, Idea and Cell one. Hence, The
majority of the market share is captured by Vodafone.
Table 1: Subscribers preferring the type of service provider
S. No Category Prepaid Postpaid
1 Air Tel 767 169
2 Vodafone 689 338
3 Idea 364 39
4 Cell One 00 234
Total 1820 780
Table 1 showed that 70% respondents are using pre paid, 30% respondents are using post paid. From this we can
conclude that most of the respondents prefer pre-paid service than to post paid. Exept respondants of Cell one
that prefer post paid service only.
Table 2: How do you find the services of your provider?
S. No Category Excellent Good Average Poor Total
1 Air Tel 442 403 91 00 936
2 Vodafone 91 676 130 130 1027
3 Idea 39 312 00 52 403
4 Cell One 00 195 00 39 234
Total 572 1586 221 221 2600
Table 2 showed that 47.23% of respondents of Air Tel expressed that the service offered by Air Tel are
Excellent; and 65.82% of respondents of Vodafone expressed that the service offered by Vodafone is Good; and
77.42% of respondents of Idea expressed that the service offered by Idea is Good; and 83.33% of respondents of
Cell One expressed that the service offered by Cell One is Good. Totally, 61% of respondents of service
providers expressed that the service offered is Good.

4. Customers Attitude Toward Mobile Service Providers In Hyderabad
www.iosrjournals.org 86 | Page
Table 3: Why did you opt for this service provider?
S. No Category Advertisement
Self
Decision
Many users in
Friend Circle
Total
1 Air Tel 91 403 442 936
2 Vodafone 169 416 442 1027
3 Idea 169 169 65 403
4 Cell One 143 39 52 234
Total 572 1027 1001 2600
Table 3 showed that 47.22% of respondents of Air Tel are using Air Tel because of many users in their friend
circle; 47.22% of respondents of Vodafone are using Vodafone because of many users in their friend circle;
42% of respondents of Idea opt for Idea by seeing an advertisement, and 42% of them on their self decision; and
61.11% of respondents of Cell One opt for Cell One by seeing an advertisement. Totally, 39.5% of respondents
of service providers opt them on their self decision.
Table 4: How do you find the packages offered by the service provider?
S.no Category Excellent Good Average Poor Total
1 Air Tel 273 494 169 0 936
2 Vodafone 0 663 273 91 1027
3 Idea 39 273 0 91 403
4 Cell One 0 143 52 39 234
Total 312 1573 494 221 2600
Table 4 showed that 52.77% of respondents of Air Tel expressed that the packages offered by Air Tel is Good;
and 64.55% of respondents of Vodafone expressed that the packages offered by Vodafone is Good; and 67.74%
of respondents of Idea expressed that the packages offered by Idea is Good; and 61.11% of respondents of Cell
One expressed that the packages offered by Cell One is Good. Totally, 60.5% of respondents of service
providers expressed that the packages offered are Good
Table 5: Do you try new packages offered?
S. No Category Yes No Total
1 Air Tel 533 403 936
2 Vodafone 624 403 1027
3 Idea 312 91 403
4 Cell One 143 91 234
Total 1612 988 2600
Table 5 showed that 57% of respondents of Air Tel expressed that they will try the new packages offered by Air
Tel; and 60.75% of respondents of Vodafone expressed that they will try the new packages offered by
Vodafone; and 77.4% of respondents of Idea expressed that they will try the new packages offered by Idea; and
61.11% of 18 respondents of Cell One expressed that they will try the new packages offered by Cell One.
Table 6: Do you use any other service provider’s service parallel with current provider?
S. No Category Yes No Total
1 Air Tel 91 845 936
2 Vodafone 130 897 1027
3 Idea 91 312 403
4 Cell One 39 195 234
Total 351 2249 2600
Table 6 showed that 9.72% of respondents of Air Tel and Idea are using other service providers parallel to the
current service provider; and 12.65% of respondents of Vodafone are using other service providers parallel to
the current service provider; and 16.67% of respondents of Cell One are using other service providers parallel to
the current service provider. Totally, 13.5% of respondents are using other service providers parallel with the
current service provider.
Table 7: How do you find the network of your service provider?
S. No Category Excellent Good Average Poor Total
1 Air Tel 533 221 182 0 936
2 Vodafone 39 585 169 234 1027
3 Idea 39 312 52 0 403
4 Cell One 0 143 91 0 234
Total 611 1261 494 234 2600
Table 7 showed that 56.94% of respondents of Air Tel expressed that the Network of Air Tel is Excellent; and
56.96% of respondents of Vodafone expressed that the Network of Vodafone is Good; and 77.4% of

5. Customers Attitude Toward Mobile Service Providers In Hyderabad
www.iosrjournals.org 87 | Page
respondents of Idea expressed that the Network of Idea is Good; and 61.11% of respondents of Cell One
expressed that the Network of Cell One is Good.
Table 8: How is the customer care service of your service provider?
S. No Category Excellent Good Average Poor Total
1 Air Tel 169 494 273 0 936
2 Vodafone 91 624 169 143 1027
3 Idea 91 234 78 0 403
4 Cell One 0 143 91 0 234
Total 351 1495 611 143 2600
Table 8 showed that 52.77% of respondents of Air Tel expressed that the Customer Care of Air Tel is Good; and
60.75% of respondents of Vodafone expressed that the Customer Care of Vodafone is Good; and 58% of
respondents of Idea expressed that the Customer Care of Idea is Good; and 61.11% of respondents of Cell One
expressed that the Customer Care of Cell One is Good. Totally, 57.5% of respondents expressed that the
Customer Care of service providers are Good.
Table 9: Do you advice people to opt for service you are using?
S. No Category Yes No Total
1 Air Tel 806 130 936
2 Vodafone 624 403 1027
3 Idea 312 91 403
4 Cell One 143 91 234
Total 1885 715 2600
Table 9 showed that 86.11% of respondents of Air Tel, 60.75% of respondents of Vodafone, 77.41% of
respondents of Idea, and 61.11% of respondents of Cell One expressed that they will advice people to opt for the
service they are using.
Table 10: How much do you spend every month for your mobile?
S .No Category 200-300 300-500 500-800 800-1000 Total
1 Air Tel 130 169 364 273 936
2 Vodafone 169 507 169 182 1027
3 Idea 273 52 39 39 403
4 Cell One 91 143 0 0 234
Total 663 871 572 494 2600
Table 10 showed that 38.88% of respondents of Air Tel are spending between 500-800 Rs monthly, and 49.36%
of respondents of Vodafone are spending between 300-500 Rs monthly; and 67.74% of respondents of Idea are
spending between 200-300 Rs monthly; and 61.11% of respondents of Cell One are spending between 300-500
Rs monthly.
VI. Discussion:
 This study showed that the level of satisfaction of customers towards “service providers in Hyderabad city
was good.
 The main criteria of selecting the service provider is the network and the friend circle if many uses in their
friend circle people are going to that service provider.
 The packages are playing vital role in choosing a particular service. In this area packages offered by
Vodafone are comparatively better than the other service providers that’s the reason market share of
Vodafone is more than the others.
 The network of Vodafone is poor in rural areas they have to improve the network if they want to increase
their subscriber base. The customer care of Vodafone is good.
 The network and packages of Air Tel is good so, it occupies the second place in the market share of
customers.
 The majority subscribers of Air Tel are business people the packages and services are more beneficial to
them. If Air Tel wants to increase their subscriber base they have to give more attracting packages. The
customer care of Air Tel is good.
 Idea occupies third place in the market share of customers. The network and packages are average. The
customer care of Idea is poor.
 Cell one occupies fourth place in the market share of customers. The network of Cell one is excellent in
every part of India but the packages and the customer care of Cell one is very poor.

6. Customers Attitude Toward Mobile Service Providers In Hyderabad
www.iosrjournals.org 88 | Page
VII. SUGESSTIONS
1. The Air Tel network is good compare to the other service providers in rural and urban areas of Andhra
Pradesh. The packages are also good but the packages are attracting business people and the jobbers only. If
Air Tel wants to capture the customers they have to give more attracting packages.
2. The Vodafone network is good in the urban areas but it is poor in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. The
majority subscribers of Vodafone are in urban areas only. If they want to increase their subscriber base they
have to increase their network in the rural areas. The market share of Vodafone is good when compare to
the other players in the market.
3. The network of Idea is good in the urban areas but it is poor in the rural areas of Andhra Pradesh. The
market share of Idea is also good but the services and packages offered by Idea are not attracting the
customers. The market share of Idea is poor. If they want to increase their subscriber base they have to
increase their network and they have to give more attracting packages.
4. The network of Cell one is excellent in every part of India. But the packages are very poor. The market
share is also less when compare to the other players. If they want to increase their market share in the
student community they have to give more attracting packages.
5. Customers want more improvement in service.
Author Information
Yousef Mehdipour is a Ph.D. Scholar in Education, the Institute of Advanced Study in Education,
Osmania University, Hyderabad, India and also he is a faculty member in ZUMS; And Hamideh Zerehkafi is a
student in Master of business Administration, College of Commerce and Business Management, Osmania
University, Hyderabad, India.
References
[1]. Carman, J.M. (1990). Consumer perceptions of service quality: an assessment of the SERVQUAL dimensions. Journal of Retailing,
66, 33-55.
[2]. Churchill, G.A. & Suprenant, C. (1992). An investigation the determinant of customer satisfaction. Journal of Marketing Research,
19, 491-504.
[3]. Fecikova, I. (2004). An index method for measurement of customer satisfaction. The TQM Magazine, 16(1), 57-66.
[4]. Gustafsson A., Johnson, M.D. & Roos, I. (2005). The effects of customer satisfaction, Relationship Commitment Dimensions, and
Triggers on Customer Retention. American Marketing Association, ISSN: 0022-2429 (print), 1547-7185 (electronic).
[5]. Ho, C.C. (1998). Using customer satisfaction to plan work. Proceedings of Taiwan’s Quality Society’s 34th Annual Meeting and
Forth National Quality Management Conference, Taiwan, 495-503.
[6]. http://www.airtel.in/QuarterlyResult/Quarterly_report_Q3_11.pdf
[7]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Statistics_in_India
[8]. Kotler, Ph. (2003). Marketing Management. Pearson Education, Inc. Fifth edition& 10th
edition.
[9]. Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A. (2007). Organizational behavior. Arizona: McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
[10]. Le Roux, J. (1994). The Black child in crisis. A socio-education perspective Volume 2. J L Van Schaik.
[11]. Lord, C. G. (1997). Social psychology. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Momentum Research Group. Retrieved
November 03, 2004, from: http://www.momentumresearchgroup.com/glossary.php
[12]. Morris, C. G. and Maisto, A. A. (2005). Psychology: An introduction, 12th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson, Prentice Hall.
[13]. Parker, C. & Mathews, B.P. (2001). Customer satisfaction: contrasting academic and consumer interpretations. Marketing
Intelligence and Planning, 19(1), 38-44.
[14]. Salomon, M.R. (1991). Consumer behavior: Buying, Having, and Being. Allyn and Bacon, Boston, MA.
[15]. Van Riel, A.C.R., Lilijander, V. & Jurriens, P. (2001). Exploring consumer’s evaluations of e-services: a portal site. International
Journal of Service Industry Management, 12(4), 77-359.
[16]. Vodafone Essar Ltd: Vodafone India — Mobile Communications worldwide. Vodafone.in. 2009-03-31. Retrieved 2009-05-01.