The Application of Markov Chains Model in Determining the Switching Behaviour of Customers in Phone Companies in Developing World: A Study of Tanzania

Mobile telecommunications customer switching is a global challenge in twenty-first-century mobile phone companies. This implies that mobile phone users are not sticking to one telephone network but rather trotting from one telephone brand to another for innumerable reasons. This kind of user mobility in telephone network usage has tremendous bad effects like declining market share, lack of trustworthiness, and poor profitability, among others. This study aimed at evaluating the switching behaviour of customers in telephone companies specifically in Tanzania one of the developing nations. Quantitative data was collected randomly to avoid bias via structured questionnaires from 240 mobile telephone users or customers from four major players of Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel, and Halotel. Collected data was analysed using Markov analysis techniques. Findings flagged that Vodacom resolved to preserve the leading position towards the steady-state point regarding the telecommunication industry. Findings aid in establishing core factors that influence the brand-switching behaviour of mobile telephone users. Practical implications, recommendations, and a guiding Markov model for future implementation are availed to the telephone service providers, telephone users, policymakers, and future academia hence bonding the theoretical and practical knowledge gap in the literature by examining factors influencing consumers’ switching behaviour.