The last five years have been nothing short of turbulent, with COVID, geopolitical upheavals and massive technological leaps, just to name a few of the big events.

Putting global disruptions aside, we’ve also seen subtle but significant changes in consumer behavior across every demographic. Everything from digital platforms to consumption patterns has evolved. 

Here at Circles, it makes sense to look at one of our original markets a little closer and ask “How have Singaporean attitudes and behaviors towards telcos changed?” Singapore has been our home base, and the innovations developed here serve as the foundation for innovation globally.

We surveyed nearly two thousand mobile phone consumers aged between 16 and 65, representing the Singaporean populace in terms of age, gender, and personal income. This is the first in a four-part series about the types of consumers we’ve discovered and three key consumer trends that every telco should know.

With that, here are the segments that stood out to us from the survey based on different needs:

1. Digital Vanguards – 41% of the Population

Representing almost half of the population, this segment reflects the values and aspirations of most Singaporeans. At their core, they value spending time with their family, career, and financial security above everything else.

They are a cohort of users that desire data freedom and flexibility. Personality-wise, they are price-conscious, money-driven, yet open-minded.

Digital Vanguards are not picky with who their telco provider is. While they find mobile plans and pricing complicated, they also want the flexibility to change them more frequently. 

They dislike looking for new plans and services because they find them confusing, but they also feel that Singaporean mobile companies have a responsibility to do more for the community.

Digital Vanguards’ Top Telco Needs:

They are practical and love freedom and flexibility in their plans. Their top telco needs are:

1. Getting unlimited mobile data plans
2. Having plans that come with phones
3. Flexibility to add more data to the plan
4. A digital app where they can access information about their plan
5. Options to make roaming more affordable
6. Data-free streaming entertainment packages with their telco service
7. Great customer service

2. Savvy Selectors – 25% of the Population

Savvy selectors tend to be affluent early adopters of new technology. They are also the most discerning and demanding regarding their mobile plans.

They also use various apps such as meditation tools and voice assistants. With higher spending power, they tend to choose the bigger, more expensive telcos. They also consider non-telco-related rewards, like streaming subscriptions, to be part of what give a telco value for money.

They feel that Singaporean telco providers can all improve their infrastructure quality and that there is little to differentiate one telco from another. 

They also feel there isn’t enough variety in mobile plans and that these telcos all have the same network coverage.

Savvy Selectors look for information from telcos via live chat, reading through forums, and enquiring at physical stores.

Savvy Selectors’ Top 5 Telco Needs:

1. The brand needs to be cool and youthful
2. The brand is actively involved in the community
3. The brand provides more flexibility to add more SMS to my plan
4. They offer a data-free streaming music package
5. They are a brand that is also used by my close friends and family

3. Price Chasers – 11% of the Population

Price Chasers are more conservative and price-sensitive than the other segments. They value financial security, low prices, and stability. People in this group tended to be around 45 years and above.

If Savvy Selectors are the early adopters, then Price Chasers can be considered laggards. If cheaper alternatives exist, they’re not too bothered with new features and designs. If prices are similar, they’ll opt for the perceived stability of older telcos.

They are more critical of telcos than the other segments discussed here and only want the bare minimum tech and services required to remain connected with work and family.

Most Price Chasers believe that mobile phone companies will try to take advantage of people if they can and are more interested in making profits than improving infrastructure. They also want shorter contract periods and the flexibility to change more frequently.

Price Chasers’ Top 5 Telco Needs

1. They offer the best value for what you get
2. Their network doesn’t dropout or disconnect
3. Their plans and pricing are simple and easy to understand
4. Their bills are clear and straightforward with no hidden fees
5. They are the cheapest provider

4. Passives – 23% of the Population

For the Passives, the less time and energy spent managing their mobile plans, the better.

They are indifferent and disengaged from managing these plans and prefer sticking to the status quo.  Passives normally don’t consider other telcos unless specific communication features are needed.

They will likely stick with their current service provider as long as their basic communication needs are met.

Passives’ “Top” Telco Needs

Note: while these are listed here, the scores listed were all fairly low. The key takeaway is that they are disengaged from thinking too much about telcos

1. They offer the latest mobile phones
2. They are a cool and youthful brand
3. They have plans that come with phones
4. They are a brand that is also used by my close friends and family
5. They provide flexibility to add more call minutes to my plan

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Singaporean telco consumers have shown us that they really want a great product, more control over their telco plans and a great customer experience. 

With how much the world and our markets have changed, staying agile and keeping your consumers' wants and needs central to your business is more important than ever.

That’s why we launched Circles.life: to shake things up and give power back to the customer. 

We focused on great customer experiences and more freedom for our users, down to having no contract plans. All this was possible by building our own end-to-end telco IT platform, including BSS, martech, customer-facing applications, and data analytics from the ground up.

As telco operators ourselves, we also want to share more of our home market’s insights with you.

Stay tuned because we’ll be exploring each of these insights in future posts:

• Premium Telcos are Less About Physical Stores and More About Great Service
• Looking for ‘More’, ‘Flexibility’ and ‘Accessibility’ in Telco Digital Experiences
• Smartphones Are Central for Everything from Personal Finance to Wellness

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If you’d like to learn more about how we have partnered with other telcos in their simplification, digitization, and transformation journey contact us today.

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This is part one of our Telco Customer Insights series.

Catch the other posts below: