Title: Beyond the interoperability of telephony, VoIP and networking: self-realisation marketing contribution to value creation in telecommunications sector

Authors: Emilio Jose Montero Arruda Filho, Fabio Cassia, Alberto Marino

Addresses: Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Economy, University of Bergamo (UNIBG), Via dei Caniana 2, 24127 Bergamo, Italy; Department of Engineering, Instituto de Estudos Superiores da Amazonia (IESAM), Av. Governador Jose Malcher, 1148 Belem – Para, Brazil. ' Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Economy, University of Bergamo (UNIBG), Via dei Caniana 2, 24127 Bergamo, Italy. ' Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Economy, University of Bergamo (UNIBG), Via dei Caniana 2, 24127 Bergamo, Italy

Abstract: Drawing on behaviour and trust literature, this article presents and discusses a marketing strategy applied by the operators of telecommunications, defined by the authors as Self-Realisation Marketing. Together with technology, this marketing strategy contributes to create value in this sector, partially taking advantage of inefficient regulation leading to market failure. From a technological point of view, this article evaluates the costs of three applications in long-distance communication, considering landline and mobile telephony, as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and their interoperability with the data net. On the other hand, from a business point of view, landline operators are losing clients because of the lack of specific regulation by the telecommunications authority. Through a theoretical discussion the paper hypothesises that value creation in this sector is the result of three distinct components: technological advancements, branding opportunities and regulation failures. The contribution of Self-Realisation Marketing is particularly underlined, showing how this tool can help to increase value both in a positive way (brand value) and in a negative way (hiding market failures).

Keywords: technology marketing; self-realisation theory; value creation; telecommunications sector; Voice over Internet Protocol; VoIP; telephony; networking; interoperability; landlines; mobile phones; cell phones; branding; brand value; market failures.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2008.017340

International Journal of Technology Marketing, 2008 Vol.3 No.1, pp.56 - 80

Published online: 28 Feb 2008 *

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