Consumer perceptions and trends in the Singaporean telecommunications market : a market research perspective

Abstract

In this study, we aim to find out the consumer perceptions of the liberalized mobile telecommunication market in Singaporean and study the kinds of advertising appeals used by the local service providers to target the consumers. In our research, we used the methods of survey questionnaire to obtain quantitative data on public perceptions. This was complimented by the conducting of a focus group to gather qualitative data. The insights on advertising appeals were drawn from a content analysis on the advertisements run by the service providers. Our findings showed that the local public has a generally positive attitude towards the service providers. SingTel Mobile was generally perceived as the market leader and M1, its strongest competitor, Hutchison Paging and ST SunPage are perceived to be targeting at separate niche audiences. The service providers have shown to use mostly an appeal to Kiasuism needs to target at the generally frugal Singaporeans but also includes secondary appeals to establish their brand-name and unique selling propositions (USPs).