Consumer Switching and Competition Strategy in IT-Enabled Markets

Abstract

My dissertation studies consumer switching and firms’ competition strategy in information technology (IT)-enabled markets, using the global wireless telecommunications industry as a testing field. Two of the chapters examine the impact of a public policy that reduces consumer switching costs – mobile number portability (MNP) – on market competition, and explore its asymmetric effects across firms and countries. The other chapter investigates how investment in customer acquisition would affect firm performance as competition intensifies, and how the adoption of innovative technology would complement customer strategy and enhance firm’s competitive advantage.

Keywords: consumer, switching, strategy, firm, technology, public policy, acquisition, competition, competitive advantage