The Impact of Innovative Mobile Customer Relationship Management (mCRM) Processes on Customer Satisfaction of Samsung, Dubai, UAE.

Samsung is a mobile phone manufacturer in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. Samsung enjoyed early success in the region, dominating the market by 2016. However, sales and the customer base have recently declined and it became difficult to maintain competitive advantage where rival offers were increasingly similar. The continued success of Apple along with the emergence of alternative mobile phone providers contributed to the decline in performance of Samsung. Consequently, management sought new ways to compete as a means of regaining success and mobile customer relationship management (mCRM) was introduced to provide customer support ‘on-the-go’ through a dedicated micro-site offering largely automated support with a toll-free number for higher level assistance. Whether developing mCRM would be successful in terms of raising customer satisfaction provided a basis for research due to a knowledge gap in the literature that has inconsistent findings. The first research aim was to identify and determine key innovative mCRM processes as there is no general agreement in the literature. The second research aim was to measure the impact of the identified innovative mCRM process on customer satisfaction of customers of Samsung in Dubai, UAE.

The latent construct of mCRM was subdivided into the indicators of customization, interactivity, convenience, service, and security as impacting the satisfaction of customers of Samsung in the mobile phone market, in Dubai, UAE. To test the hypothesis, a positivist philosophy was adopted based on the quantitative approach using an online structured, self-administered, survey of 250 respondents. The research instrument, a modified version from previous studies, indicated adequate reliability and validity via a pilot test. Correlation and regression analysis indicated a positive and significant relationship between all the indicators of mCRM and customer satisfaction. Although mCRM was found to be impactful on customer satisfaction, recommendations were made to improve mCRM to generate greater satisfaction. The theoretical or managerial implications of the research were considered in terms of adding to the literature and providing information for strategy. The limitations of the research were noted in being narrow in terms of industry and geographic context and the lack of qualitative research that could provide more profound insights along with the mediating effects of demographics that were not considered or analysed. Suggestions were made for further research such as considering other determinable factors, such as the industry, its size, sales revenue, and the compatibility of mCRM with other initiatives such as sustainability as impacting on organizational performance.