Marketing strategies in the GSM industry: A research to determine the behavior of mobile phone users in change GSM operator and porting number

The purpose of this study is to analyze the behavior of mobile phone users in changing GSM operators and porting numbers. In this context, first of all, the importance of mobile service providers in the world, which started with the invention of the mobile phone, and their transformation into the telecommunications sector are explained. The GSM sector in Turkey was examined, the Number Portability System (NTS) was explained and a research was conducted to determine the number portability behaviors of people living in Turkey. In the study, analyzes of the GSM sector in the world and marketing strategies and number changing behaviors on a country basis were examined, competition conditions and analysis were made, and the Turkish market and marketing strategies and applications on a global scale were evaluated and compared with Porter's Five Forces Model. Within the scope of the research, 411 participants were reached by conducting an online survey using the convenience sampling method, and 396 surveys were analyzed. The research revealed that only quality and customer satisfaction are not important obstacles to the behavior of switching GSM operators, there are also price-sensitive subscribers and more reward programs are needed to keep this group of customers with the GSM operator. In addition, it has been revealed that GSM operator advertisements are not very important in the process of influencing the decision to change operator, customers are more in expectation of campaigns aimed at reducing communication costs / rewarding subscribers, and these factors are important for number porting behavior. It has been determined that those who port their numbers to other operators and those who do not, are fed by different dynamics and convey this process to their surroundings as a positive experience, but those who do not port have a negative attitude towards number porting.