ABSTRACT
Indonesian telecommunication industry had been higly saturated with the penetration rate more than 100%. In which, GSM operators are dominant players in the industry. However, these players are experiencing high churn rate, delineates that they experience difficulty to keep customers. To keep their customers from moving to other operator, mobile operators need to remain competitive by providing end users with an immense and satisfying experience. In which, the experience will influence customer decision to induce switching cost and perception when viable competing exist in the market. Thus, this study intends to investigate the relation between elements of user experience (functionality, social, monetary, trustworthiness, perceived service quality) and switching barrier elements (switching cost, alternative attractiveness).
This study is a quantitative research with causal study. The population of this study is people who are GSM operators’ subscribers. The sample is taken using purposive sampling technique with the sample size of 384 individuals. The data is collected using questionnaire with 5 likert scale. Structural equation model with partial least square (PLS-SEM) is used to analyze the data.
The results show that among five elements of user experience, two elements which are social and trustworthiness are proven to have positive and significant influence towards switching cost as one of the element of switching barriers. Furthermore, functionality and monetary are proven to have significant influence towards alternative attractiveness as one of the element of switching barriers.
Keywords: Alternative Attractiveness, GSM Operators, Switching Cost, Switching Barriers, User Experience.