Determinants of consumer leapfrogging, consumer knowledge and intention to leapfrog in mobile phone industry: Selected counties in Kenya

Abstract

Intention to leapfrog is described as making a decision to wait to replace a current product with a future product instead of the latest version currently available in the market. A comprehensive examination of consumer determinants of intention to leapfrog is missing from literature. Thus, this study sought to fill this void by evaluating the moderating effect of consumer knowledge on the relationship between the determinants of consumer leapfrogging and the intention to leapfrog in the mobile phone industry in selected counties in Kenya. The specific objective was to determine the effect of perceived product quality, perceived switching cost, urgency to replace, and consumer knowledge on intention to leapfrog, and to establish the moderating effect of consumer knowledge on the relationship between the determinants of consumer leapfrogging and intention to leapfrog in the mobile phone industry in Kenya. The study was guided by the Schumpeterian Growth Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Positivism research philosophy approach was used for the study. The study adopted explanatory research design, stratified and simple random sampling techniques in collecting data from a sample size of 349 employees of three selected counties in Kenya, namely, Nairobi, Nakuru and Trans-Nzoia. Data were obtained using structured questionnaires. Cronbanch’s alpha and factor analysis were applied to test reliability and validity of research instrument, respectively. Analysis of the data was done using hierarchical regression to test the hypotheses. The study found that; perceived product quality (β = 0.511, p = 0.000) and perceived switching cost (β = 0.099, p = 0.030) positively and significantly affect Intentions to Leapfrog while Urgency to replace (β = 0.073, p = 0.109) was not significant. The moderator (consumer knowledge) was found to have a positive and significant effect on the intention to leapfrog (β = 0.378, p = 0. 000). Additionally, the interaction effects indicate that consumer knowledge moderates the relationship between perceived product quality and intentions to leapfrog (β = - 0.047, p = 0.005) thus an enhanced moderation and the link between perceived switching cost and intentions to leapfrog (β = 0.039, p = 0.012) thus an antagonistic moderation. Thus, the moderating effect of consumer knowledge brings new insights into literature and theory in relation to the study variables which has implications for managers and policy makers. The large effect of perceived product quality suggests that marketing practitioners should consider a broader perspective of the competition such that a product not only competes with the products of other providers, but with its expected future generations and align their strategy concerning the quality in the lifecycle of their products. The study used quantitative data; future studies should consider using mixed methods as these may reveal other determinants that may influence leapfrogging intentions.