Chapter 6- Customer Decision Making

 

Digicel’s marketing strategy seeks to reach customers at the moments that most influence their decisions.

 

Mobile phones have become extremely ubiquitous and are deeply entrenched in the lifestyle of people around the world.  The use of mobile phones in the Caribbean market indeed plays an integral part of everyday life that customers use them as an extension of themselves; ingrained in their social identity and image formation.  

Digicel recognizes that its customers now perceive a mobile phone as a necessity, not just to stay connected to family and friends but to the world with the advent of mobile data. In fact, the need for communication and the mobile products are likely to be perceived as a utility in the same category as gas or electricity.

Customer behaviour in the market suggests that they are unlikely to give a second thought to making a call or sending a text, to the basket of goods used to calculate the cost of living. This demonstrates just how essential the use of mobile phones have become for communicating or seeking information.

Digicel understands that knowing the factors that influence customer decision-making will assist in determining what steps to take to facilitate better outcomes for customers and increased revenues for the company.

   

Helping Customers make the Right Decision/Choice

These days it is common for a customer to enter into a mobile contract with a large financial commitment locked in over a period of up to two years. It’s a quick decision made by customers to ensure they are connected to the world around us, as indeed, communication is an essential utility.  In a market that is characterized by confusion instead of clarity, it is usually a very challenging decision.

 Unhappy customers are bad for business and it is in no one’s interest for customers to sign up for a service or product that don’t suit their needs. Digicel believes that facilitating customers to make good decisions about its products and services is the key to efficient and competitive marketing.

Digicel uses qualitative and quantitative approach to assist its efforts in affecting customer decision making. Digicel explores a number of variables, including bounded rationality, customer experience and biases, and mental processing capabilities. In addition, the company also pays attention to decision factors, including confusion, information overload, choice overload, bundling and complex pricing.

 

Qualitative & Quantitative Approach

Focus Groups-   Digicel make use focus groups to gauge the need for new services or products.  The questions or activities are designed to capture detailed information about their emotions, motives and underlying value systems that may not otherwise be accessible, as people don’t always do what they say. Asking those individuals to reflect on their own experiences, in their own words, provides richness to the “stories” of customers and paints a spectrum of customer experiences.

Customer Satisfaction Surveys- Customer satisfaction surveys gives Digicel and anonymous and unambiguous insight into its customers’ thoughts and perceptions of its products, services, programs, and the brand as a whole, and more importantly information leading to what needs to be changed in order to retain lasting customer relationships. The information analyzed from Customer satisfaction surveys enables Digicel to better be able to provide to the needs of the customers and encourage loyalty.

 

Advertising

Testimonials- One of the most valuable marketing tools for a business is the use of testimonials received from satisfied customers. Digicel engages its satisfied loyal customers to provide testimonials about the benefits they have enjoyed because they have bought Digicel’s product or service or the overall customer experience.  Testimonials are valuable proof to prospective customers that Digicel’s product or service actually delivers the benefit the company claim it will. Testimonials act like referrals and seek to influence or prompts customer to take a decision to buy a Digicel product or service. The benefit of testimonials is that it adds credibility to Digicel brand.

Digicel understands that customer decision-making in the mobile industry is a very complex process that does not always lead to the optimal outcome for individual customers. Customers are impacted by a variety of personal preferences, biases and ways of processing information, and are also affected by industry-related factors including product and pricing strategies, market segmentation, and of course, information and advertising.
 

Market Segmentation

Digicel uses Market segmentation, to define groups of individuals with similar product needs and wants.  Segmentation is a diagnostic tool used to predict customer behaviour, and is necessary as customer needs are not being met by mass market approach.  This has led to product and service offerings based on customer type, prepaid vs. postpaid, customer spend, demographics, situational factors etc.  For example for prepaid customers, local retail/reseller outlets will have top up values as low as $2.00ECD, however that low top up value is not available for online top up as it is perceived that persons using a credit card for online top up is capable of topping up with larger value and will not waste time and effort to top up such a low value.  Market segmentation allows for better value to the customer and gives Digicel a competitive edge. 

Promotions-  Digicel incorporates a number of tiered promotions to segmented groups in an effort to affect the behaviour of the customer.  For example, it would get the data of all customers who top up with an average high of $10.00ECD and proposes them to top up of a value o $25.00 or over and get $5.00EC worth of Free text messages or a chance to win a grand prize.

Pricing Strategies- Digicel recognizes that its customers are from different socio-economic spheres and for this reason has developed its pricing to suit all pockets, both  for its prepaid and postpaid customers.

Information

   

The environment in which customers encounter information has a considerable influence on the way this information is processed, evaluated and integrated by customers.  Digicel seeks to provide information in simple terms for ease of reference for its customers via advertising, toll free 24 x 7 customer care contact centre, text messages, online (website), social media, etc.   Providing customers with additional or superfluous information can impede their ability to make good decisions.  

Helping customers make good decisions requires more than providing the information needed. Providing additional information and choice in some cases may create more confusion problems than solutions.  Due to limited information processing capacity, not all customers are willing, able or motivated to process all available information and choice options. Although people are attracted to choice, even simply offering choice can lead to cognitive overload, delayed choice, poor choice and choice regret.  However Digicel research indicates that customers seem to like more choice, despite knowing that more choice will not necessarily provide a better outcome.  Digicel always seek to offer a Choice.   Digicel’s Customer care is always available to answer any queries on its products and services.

Sales- Be Clear & Genuine on Product Offerings

 

To increase comprehension and information processing effectiveness, Digicel ensures its advertising states explicitly the details of the product or promotional offer.  Digicel uses perceptual techniques in its advertisement and online ads, such as the use of contrasting colour, to increase the likelihood of customers attending to this information.

Digicel proactively provides information to customers about network coverage, contract termination fees, outages, etc. in an effort to enhance customer satisfaction with the information provided, and encourage them to view the information provided as being more believable and trustworthy overall.