Understanding Consumer Churning Behaviors in Mobile Telecommunication Service Industry : Cross-national Comparison between Korea and China

It is crucial for telecom operators to shift from a subsidy-centered to a servicecentered marketing strategy. As the market reaches its saturation point, the effectiveness of customer acquisition through the traditional subsidy decreases and offering differentiated services for existing customer retention is critical. This study aims at finding out factors affecting consumer churning intention based on PPM (Push-Pull-Mooring) theory in order to exactly understand consumer behaviors in the mobile telecommunication service industry (MTSI). This study also analyzes the difference between Korea (saturation market) and China (growth market) in terms of the causality between the intention to switch and the affecting factors. The research findings will encourage telecom operators to establish the effective service strategy that corresponds to their level of market maturity.