Elektrik Tedarikçisi Değiştirmeyi Etkileyen Faktörler: Küçük Ölçekli İşletmelerden Oluşan Müşteriler Üzerine Bir Araştırma

Abstract

Verimliliğe, daha iyi müşteri hizmetlerine ve daha iyi fiyatlara kavuşma peşinde olan dünya ülkeleri, enerji sektörlerini serbestleştirme süreçlerini hızla işletmektedir. Ancak, ne Avrupa’da, ne de Dünya’da tam bir başarıya ulaşılamamıştır. Başarının ölçütlerinden biri olan “tedarikçiler arasındaki müşteri hareketleri”nin elektrik tedarikçileri açısından anlamı müşteri kaybı veya kazancı olduğundan; bu kavramın gerek sektör düzenleyicisi kurumlar, gerekse sektör katılımcıları tarafından çok iyi anlaşılması gerekmektedir. Bu çalışma; enerji sektörü özelindeki örgütlerarası pazarlama çalışmalarında nispeten ihmal edilen bir tüketici segmenti olan “küçük ve orta büyüklükteki işletmeler [KOBİ]” için bir elektrik tedarikçisi değiştirme modeli sunmayı amaçlamaktadır. Önerilen model; Bansal ve diğ. (2005) tarafından göç hareketleri ile tedarikçi değiştirme hareketleri arasındaki benzerlikler kullanılarak oluşturulan, göç hareketleri faktörlerinin literatürdeki yaygın sınıflandırması olan itme, çekme ve durdurma [İÇD] yapısını içeren bir tedarikçi değiştirme modeli temel alınarak geliştirilmiştir. Model, literatür araştırması ve kalitatif çalışmayla desteklenmiş, genişletilmiş ve anket yöntemi ile toplanan verilerin analizi ile test edilmiştir. Çalışmanın kavramsal modelinin testinde sırasıyla Açıklayıcı Faktör Analizi, Doğrulayıcı Faktör Analizi ve Yapısal Eşitlik Modeli yöntemleri kullanılmıştır. Nihai model, ilgili tüm test ve model-veri uyumu kriterlerine uygun şekilde oluşturulmuştur. Çalışmanın sonucunda itme faktörlerinin tedarikçi değiştirme niyeti üzerinde etkili olduğu, çekme ve durdurma faktörlerinin ise etkisiz olduğu görülmüştür. Başka bir deyişle KOBİler, mevcut elektrik tedarikçileri ile bir sorun yaşamadıkları sürece, tedarikçi değiştirme konusunu gündemlerine almamaktadırlar. Rakip firmaların etkileri veya tedarikçi değiştirme sürecindeki engelleyici faktörlerin bu yönelimde bir payları yoktur. Çekme ve durdurma faktörlerinin etkisizliğinin kaynağı olarak, anket yapılan topluluğun seçildiği sektörün nispeten düşük serbestleşme seviyesi olduğu düşünülmektedir. Bu sektör yapısındaki müşterilerin rekabete ilişkin haberdarlık düzeyinin düşük olduğu tespit edilmiştir, bu da mevcut seçeneklerin varlığından habersiz olmaları sonucunu doğurmaktadır. Ancak çekme ve durdurma faktörlerinin tedarikçi değiştirme kararında etkisiz olmasının, tüketicilerin haberdarlık düzeyi ile nasıl ve ne yönde ilişkisi olduğu gelecekteki çalışmalarda derinlemesine incelenmelidir. Zira bu çalışmanın önemli kısıtları mevcuttur: (1) Anketler telefon yoluyla gerçekleştirilmiştir (2) Faktörleri test etmek için kısıtlı sayıda değişken kullanılmıştır (3) Anketlerin gerçekleştirildiği pazar tam serbestleşmeye henüz geçmemiştir.

Energy markets are being liberalized throughout the globe pursuing efficiency, better customer service, and lower prices; however they haven’t fully succeeded yet in Europe and the rest of the world. In the energy sectors of different countries, there is not sufficient evidence that consumers are willing to switch, which would in turn create a market of high mobility (Brennan, 2007; Watson et al., 2002) and force the electricity suppliers to decrease the prices and increase their service performances. Especially the retail competition at the residential level hasn’t fully succeeded yet (Brennan, 2007). The global average switching rate for 2011, calculated based on residential and commercial consumers in 38 electricity markets is 7.75 percent (VaasaETT, 2012b). While switching activity is an indicator of a succesfull liberalization and a well-functioning market, it also means customer loss and acquisition from the energy companies’ point of view (Bansal et al., 2005). Therefore, it has a significant importance for the market regulator and market participants including customers and energy suppliers, making it a concept that should be understood thoroughly. Many studies have been conducted to understand consumer switching since 1990s. A large amount of those studies have focused on B2C customers in a variety of service sectors such as telecommunications, banking, and online services. In addition; studies on switching in the electricity supply market has recently started to grow. While electricity supply market switching has mostly drawn attention from the household consumer point of view in studies such as Walsh et al. (2005), Gamble et al. (2009), Wilson and Price (2010), Annala et al. (2013) among many others; B2B consumers are relatively neglected in the literature. Especially small and medium enterprises [SME] are rarely targets of both researchers and electricity suppliers, forming an untapped potential (Accenture, 2013). On the other hand, there are sector reports of institutions and regulatory bodies including non-household segments such as International Energy Agency [IEA] (2011) and VaasaETT (2012b) among many others; however they lack academical models of switching behavior due to their business-wise priorities. Moreover, the studies are conducted in the fully liberalized markets, where residential, industrial and commercial customers are all eligible to choose their energy supplier (VaasaETT, 2012b) and those studies cannot tap the characteristics of a market in its early-mid stages (Australian Energy Regulator [AER], 2012). This study aims to build a model of electricity supplier switching for a relatively neglected customer segment in the business to business [B2B] energy markets:SMEs. The model proposed in this study is mainly based on the study of Bansal et al. (2005) who adapt push, pull, and mooring [PPM] framework in migration literature into services switching, using the similarities between human migration and customer switching. The research model aims to reveal a clearer understanding of why SMEs, who form a significant part of the electricity supply customers and yet neglected with respect to other segments, choose to switch. In order to achieve this goal, a model is formed, which (1) sets forth the determinants of switching (2) in a B2B setting (3) that is made up of SMEs (4) in an electricity market in its early-mid liberalisation phase (Turkey) where the eligibility limit is 4,000 kWh / year (as of 2015). This limit excludes almost all the households from the competitive market yet includes SMEs who are eligible since 2011, when the eligibility limit was 30,000 kWh / year. Literature research and a qualitative study are conducted to support and contribute to the existing PPM model, and develop an extended version of it. The model is tested using survey data, which is put to exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling methods respectively. The final model passed all necessary tests and met all model fit criteria. It is concluded that Push factors have an influencing effect on switching intention whereas Pull and Mooring factors are ineffective. In other words, SME consumers start to evaluate switching when they experience an incident with their current supplier, instead of being influenced by any competitors and/or the mooring effects that resides on the way to switching. After the series of analyses, a new push factor is formed. This factor is composed of trust, commitment, value, and price. It has become the strongest component of the push construct. The new factor is interpreted in a way that; the price and value is ineffective in the absence of trust and commitment. In addition, the only value of electricity suppliers, as perceived by SME consumers, is price. Satisfaction and service quality are the next two strongest push components that influence switching intention. In addition, weak social bonds with the current supplier’s employees, although to a lesser extent, also results in switching intention. Sector type, country characteristics, customer awareness level, and the stage in the industry life cycle are thought to be affecting how research model factors influence switching. It is believed that as the industry life cycle move towards maturity, customer awareness increases. As both proceed together; pull and mooring constructs of the model step in, most probably former being earlier than the latter. Heuristically, it can be said that if the factors related to the target location are ineffective, than the factors that reside on the way to the target location are not even a matter of discussion. Therefore, it is expected that pull factors start being effective first, and only then mooring factors will be in customers’ eyesight moving towards industry maturity. Country characteristics is thought to be another factor influencing the effectiveness of the model. Despite boundaries are dissolving across different cultures and economies (Ger, 1999) that emerges a homogeneous global consumer culture (Cleveland & Laroche, 2007); globalization also empowers national identities (Ger, 1999). Therefore, Turkey’s culture and its impact on consumer behaviour should be taken into account. In conclusion, the relationship between the ineffectiveness of pull and mooring factors and impact of awareness levels, country characteristics, and industry life cycle should be studied deeper in future research due to the limitations of this study: (1) Surveys are conducted by CATI method (2) Limited number of items were used to test the factors of the model (3) Surveys are conducted in a semi-liberalized market. Practical implications of this study are mostly for the market players and regulatory bodies in the energy sector. It is recommended that electricity suppliers (1) focus on customer retention by doing basics right, building trust, and investing in advertisements that build brand image in the exploratory stage of the industry, (2) continue their IT & OT investments to improve their customer experience for the development and maturity stages, (3) approach SMEs with sales representatives creating maximum proximity possible, (4) offer customized services to SMEs. Pushing the market towards maturity stage is recommended for the regulatory bodies by arranging the necessary regulations that ease switching, boost customer awareness, and complete/monitor related infrastructure investments.