Customer retention in home Internet Service Provider (ISP) market: factors influencing brand loyalty

This thesis investigates the relationship between the home Internet users in southern Thailand, and the loyalty that these users have towards their service providers. It looks into addressing the factors that influence the brand loyalty intentions of the home Internet users in southern Thailand. The research for this thesis is based on the premise that brand personality, brand image and brand awareness is created either by direct company communication mix or indirect contact with the consumers - both of which influences the perception of consumer expectation while at the same time reinforcing brand trust. Exploratory research finds that, consumers will be satisfied with the brand if the brand can fulfil its promises and expectations that the consumers have of its brand and products. In return, high consumer satisfaction will augment the level of brand trust and brand value, eventually affecting brand loyalty. This thesis extends previous brand loyalty research, through comparing attributes that have in the past been associated with brand loyalty, and explores their application to the Internet Service Provider (ISP) market for home use in southern Thailand. Consequently, the main thrust of this thesis is to develop a framework that can be empirically tested to determine the factors that influence brand loyalty in the ISP market for home use in southern Thailand.