ADVERTISING STRATEGIES AND CUSTOMERS' RETENTION OF TELECOMMUNICATION MESSAGES AMONG USERS IN PORT HARCOURT

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the advertising strategies and customers’ retention of telecommunication messages among users in Port Harcourt. The objectives of this study include among others are to determine the advertising strategies used by the telecommunication firms, to find out if the advertising messages of the telecommunication firms lead to users’ retention of the telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt, and what factors in the advertising messages that influence users to retain and patronize the telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt. The study is anchored on persuasive theory of mass communication. The descriptive survey method was adopted and the population was 3,171,000, while the sample size of 384 was determined using Krejcie and Morgan (1970). The snowball sampling technique was used for the study. Questionnaire was used as the research instrument. The questionnaire was designed in line with the research topic. The findings revealed that the telecom firms employed various promotions using both-the-above and below-the-line media as their advertising strategies. The study therefore, concludes that telecommunication service providers use below-the-line advertising media as their media-building block for marketing and promotion of their services in Port Harcourt. Consequently, this study recommends that telecommunication firms should complement the below-the-line and above-the-line advertising strategies with a multi-media advertising strategy to sustain the patronage of their subscribers or users of their networks. That brand should always meet customers’ satisfaction to continuously attract and retain the patronage of their target market in Port Harcourt. That advertising messages of telecommunication firms should always integrate edutainment and infotainment messages to draw the attention, interest and stimulate the desire of the subscribers to action in the marketing environment in Port Harcourt. That telecom service providers in Port Harcourt should complement their promotional mix with free text messages and free call/internet frequently to enable users retain their services in Port Harcourt.