THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC VARIABLES AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY IN THE GLOBAL SYSTEM OF MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION IN LAGOS STATE NIGERIA

T. O. OLUFAYO; C. I OMOERA; R. D BAKARE

T. O. OLUFAYO Department of Business Administration, University of Lagos. Akoka. Nigeria
C. I OMOERA Department of Business Administration, University of Lagos. Akoka. Nigeria
R. D BAKARE Department of Business Administration, University of Lagos. Akoka. Nigeria

Keywords: Social class, reference group, family, income, customer loyalty

Abstract

This paper examined the relationship between socioeconomic variables and customer loyalty in the Global System of Mobile (GSM) telecommunications in Nigeria looking at mobile subscribers in Lagos metropolis. This was done because loyalty in the mobile telephone industry is not stable. The study looked at the relationship between family, social class, reference group, and income, and customer loyalty in the GSM telecommunication market. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design in collecting and processing information collected from four groups; comprising parents, teenagers/youths/students/children, workers, and club members (reference group). The subscribers’ base in Nigeria is put at 19,417,181 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and 1600 subjects were used in collecting information that was processed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression statistics. Results show that there was a statistically significant relationship between family influence, social class, reference group, and income on customer loyalty. Older children in the family influenced the purchasing behaviour of family in the GSM telecommunication market in Lagos State, Nigeria.