Churn and Loyalty Behavior of Turkish Digital Natives: Empirical Insights and Managerial Implications

Abstract

A generation of consumers have now grown up in the digital age, intimately connected to a host of digital tools. This generation, which we call Digital Natives, has become a prime target for mobile operators due to their size, spending power, and use intensity. In addition, they tend to be influential trend setters when it comes to the adoption of new digital solutions. In the dynamic emerging economy of Turkey, they are of even greater interest to mobile operators as they surpass their peers in many advanced economies in terms of use intensity. Despite its importance, our knowledge of the loyalty and churn behavior of this customer segment is very limited. We respond to this research gap by drawing insights from a comprehensive survey of digital natives in the Turkish context. The empirical data originates from a survey of 2000 Turkish university students. We employ Binomial Logistic Regression analysis which provides interesting managerial and public policy insights. Our findings demonstrate that such customer service factors as call quality, billing and brand image affect both the loyalty and churn intentions of Turkish Digital Natives. Surprisingly, youth loyalty club programs, duration of subscription, and prior churn experience are found to be not significant. These results lead to practical implications for mobile providers and telecom regulators operating in Turkey and elsewhere.