Factors Influencing the Disconnection of Landlines: An MBA Marketing Study

The factors influencing the disconnection of landlines remain a relevant topic for understanding telecom customer behavior and churn. This academic project report examines the factors influencing the disconnection of landlines through a structured marketing research approach, offering students a complete guide to objectives, methodology, analysis, and learning outcomes. It is designed to help MBA marketing learners plan, execute, and present a rigorous study.

Project Overview

This report outlines a practical framework to investigate why households and businesses discontinue landline services. It provides a roadmap for topic justification, literature synthesis, sampling and instrument design, data analysis, and interpretation aligned with marketing decision-making.

Objectives of the Study

The primary objective is to identify and evaluate the factors influencing the disconnection of landlines, with an emphasis on customer perceptions, service usage patterns, and market dynamics.

• Assess the role of price sensitivity, perceived value, and total cost of ownership in disconnection decisions.
• Evaluate service quality, reliability, and fault-resolution experiences as predictors of churn.
• Analyze substitution effects from mobile, broadband, and OTT communication platforms.
• Understand demographic and psychographic profiles associated with higher disconnection propensity.
• Study the impact of promotional offers, contract terms, and switching barriers on retention.
• Identify actionable insights for customer retention and repositioning strategies.

Literature Review Summary

Existing telecom churn research highlights how service quality, switching costs, and alternative service attractiveness shape customer exit. Studies on fixed-line decline consistently point to mobile adoption, bundled internet services, and digital communication apps reducing landline relevance. Service reliability, call quality, billing transparency, and customer support responsiveness are frequently cited determinants of satisfaction and loyalty. The literature also suggests segment-specific differences, where enterprises may retain lines for compliance or redundancy, while households shift to mobile-only setups.

Students should synthesize sources on customer satisfaction models, such as SERVQUAL and expectation-confirmation theory, and on churn modeling frameworks using logistic regression or survival analysis to strengthen the theoretical base.

Scope and Modules of the Study

The scope centers on consumer and small business users of landline services within a defined geography and time frame. The study focuses on current and recently disconnected customers to compare drivers of retention versus churn.

• Module 1: Market context and problem definition
• Module 2: Literature synthesis and hypothesis framing
• Module 3: Instrument design and pilot testing
• Module 4: Sampling and data collection
• Module 5: Data analysis and model building
• Module 6: Insights, recommendations, and limitations

Research Methodology

The methodology follows a descriptive and explanatory design, combining quantitative surveys with optional qualitative interviews for depth.

Sampling and Data Collection

Adopt a stratified sampling approach across customer types (residential and small business), tenure, and usage levels. Collect survey data using structured questionnaires covering service usage, perceived value, satisfaction, alternatives used, and intention to disconnect. Supplement with exit interviews where feasible.

Instrumentation

Use Likert-scale items to measure service quality dimensions, price fairness, perceived switching costs, and alternative attractiveness. Include behavioral measures such as frequency of landline calls, broadband bundling, and reliance on mobile devices.

Data Analysis Plan

Conduct reliability tests (e.g., Cronbach’s alpha) for scale validation. Use descriptive statistics to profile respondents, cross-tabulations to explore patterns, and regression or classification models to identify key predictors of disconnection. Present visual summaries through graphs and charts.

Data Analysis, Findings, and Interpretation

Analyze relationships between disconnection status and independent variables such as perceived service reliability, price fairness, and mobile substitution. Interpret effect sizes to prioritize managerial actions. Illustrate findings with clear tables and charts that compare retained versus disconnected customers by key attributes.

Typical insights may include the prominence of mobile-only adoption, the role of bundled broadband value perceptions, and the impact of service outages on churn among high-usage segments. Discuss how these insights translate into retention strategies like targeted win-back campaigns and service recovery protocols.

Graphs, Questionnaire, and Limitations

Graphs should include churn rate by segment, satisfaction distributions, and importance-performance maps for service attributes. The questionnaire must be concise, validated through a pilot, and aligned with hypotheses.

Limitations may include recall bias in self-reported disconnection reasons, regional constraints on generalizability, and the cross-sectional nature of survey data. Acknowledge data access constraints and suggest future longitudinal studies.

Systematic Steps to Execute the Project

1. Define the research problem and objectives with stakeholder input.
2. Conduct a focused literature review to guide hypotheses and variables.
3. Design and pilot the questionnaire to ensure clarity and reliability.
4. Implement sampling and field data collection, ensuring ethical practices.
5. Clean, code, and analyze data using appropriate statistical tools.
6. Summarize findings, draw conclusions, and formulate practical recommendations.
7. Prepare a report with an executive summary, methodology, findings, and appendices.

Learning Outcomes

Students will gain practical skills in problem definition, instrument design, sampling, and analytical modeling for marketing decisions. They will learn to translate analytical results into retention actions, craft data-driven narratives, and present insights for managerial audiences.

Related MBA Marketing Resources

For topic exploration and comparative telecom studies, students can review the MBA Marketing Topic List for additional ideas and structure guidance.

• Explore broad MBA marketing project topic ideas
• See a telecom brand analysis project for context

FAQs on factors influencing the disconnection of landlines

What primary factors should be tested?

Test price fairness, service reliability, customer support experience, mobile and internet substitution, contract terms, and switching barriers.

Which analysis techniques are suitable?

Use reliability analysis, cross-tabs, logistic regression or decision trees for churn prediction, and importance-performance mapping for prioritization.

How can qualitative data add value?

Interviews and open-ended responses reveal nuanced pain points, such as specific service disruptions or billing confusion, enriching quantitative results.

What sample size is recommended?

Determine size via power analysis; for exploratory student projects, a few hundred responses often balance precision and feasibility, subject to constraints.

How should ethical considerations be handled?

Obtain consent, anonymize data, and store responses securely. Share only aggregated findings to protect participant privacy.

Conclusion: factors influencing the disconnection of landlines

Understanding the factors influencing the disconnection of landlines equips marketers to design effective retention and win-back strategies. By aligning a rigorous methodology with clear objectives and robust analysis, students can deliver actionable insights that reflect real customer behavior and market shifts toward mobile and digital communication.

References and Suggested Reading

For foundational telecom churn concepts and measurement, consult trusted industry analyses that contextualize fixed-to-mobile substitution trends.

International Telecommunication Union statistics on telecom trends

Enquiry and Next Steps

Have questions about structuring your MBA marketing project or refining your questionnaire? Reach out with your enquiry to get guidance on next steps.

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