Innovation and Customer Retention in the Ghanaian telecommunication industry

The competition within the telecommunication sector is increasing day by day in Ghana and therefore requires the telecom operators to be more adept in their strategic approach to meet the growing demands of customers. Effective innovation is believed to be key in the approach of wining and maintaining customers. This paper examines the effect of innovation on customer retention in the telecommunication industry in Ghana.  Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires to 365 customers of 6 telecommunication companies in Accra, Ghana.  Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were employed to examine the relationship between the independent and dependent variables.  The result shows that there is positive and significant relationship between innovation and customer retention. The study also discloses that service innovation, process innovation, and marketing innovation were the key determinants of customer retention. The study found service innovation to be a significant chief driver of customer retention. The study recommends that telecommunication companies who desire to improve upon the level of customer retention should invest much in service innovation, process innovation, and marketing innovation.