Analysing switching intention through SERVQUAL: Evidence from Albania’s telecom duopoly.

Abstract

This thesis investigates the relationship between service quality and customer switching intention in the Albanian telecommunications sector, with a specific focus on the two dominant operators: Vodafone Albania and ONE Albania. Guided by the SERVQUAL framework comprising reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles, this study adopts a mixed-methods approach to explore how different quality dimensions influence user satisfaction and intent to switch providers. The study was conducted between March and May 2025, based on survey responses from 299 adult telecom users residing primarily in urban and semi-urban areas of Albania, while qualitative insights were derived from open-ended responses analyzed using NVivo. Descriptive statistics, independent-sample t-tests, and logistic regression revealed that reliability, responsiveness, and tangibles significantly reduce switching intention, whereas empathy and assurance showed no direct statistical effect. Notably, price dissatisfaction emerged as the strongest predictor of switching behavior, a finding reinforced by both survey responses and thematic analysis. Vodafone Albania consistently outperformed ONE Albania across all SERVQUAL dimensions, particularly in tangibles and assurance, highlighting perceptual gaps that reflect broader organizational and strategic differences. Although general satisfaction levels were high, they were not statistically sufficient to prevent switching without concurrent pricing transparency and efficient service responsiveness.

The study concludes that reducing switching intention in a duopolistic market requires more than technical competence to address pricing fairness, digital infrastructure, and customer relationship management. These findings carry implications for telecom managers and regulators seeking to improve customer retention in structurally constrained markets.