The Effect of Multiple Re-Branding on Customer Loyalty in Mobile Telephony: A Study of Airtel Nigeria

Purpose: Econet Wireless, a Nigerian mobile telephone network rebranded five times within the space of eight years to become what it is today, Airtel Nigeria. This research sought to know the impact of multiple rebranding on the loyalty of the network’s subscribers and the general attitude of the Nigerian towards branding in the telephony business. Approach: A survey was carried out on subscriber attitude towards Airtel as a result of the multiple rebranding through which it emerged. Questionnaires were distributed based on cluster sampling. Pearson Chi-Square was used to test the validity of the final results (cross tabulations) on a value of 0.05 and above. Findings: This research confirms communication as the vehicle for transferring brand equity; shows that multiple rebranding does not significantly affect attitude towards telecommunications brands; and that Nigerians do not really care about branding in telecommunications and/or the telecommunications companies are not doing a good job of branding. Limitations: This study focuses on only a segment of the gsm market – students of a higher institution. The perspective of the students may not be representative of the whole gsm market in Lagos. It is also limited to the telephony market in Nigeria, an emerging market. Originality/Value: This is an original work in the sense that there is no literature anywhere on the phenomenon of multiple rebranding, let alone its effect on customer loyalty.