The effects of customer service, branding, and price on the perceived value of local telephone service

This study investigates the effects of customer service quality (in installation, repair, and billing), brand-advertising expenditures, and real price competitiveness (RPC, price competitiveness adjusted for consumer confidence in the economy) on customer value among residential local telephone customers. Aggregate monthly data (over a 29-month period) for a company offering local telephone service are analyzed using hierarchical Prais-Winsten AR1 regression techniques incorporating appropriate lagged values of the predictors. Each of the predictors, interpreted on the margin, significantly impact perceptions of customer value relative to the company's telephone service. Principles of incidence and centrality as related to the analysis of incidence-based vs. general population measures are introduced. Theoretical and practical implications for the study and management of customer value are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.