Influence of Print Advertising on the Decisions of Tertiary Students to Purchase Telecom Products in the Cape Coast Metropolis: The Moderating Role of Price and Service Quality Delivery

The proliferation of telecommunication (telecom) operators in the country has led to intense competition within the industry. Most telecom operators use advertising as a major competitive tool to attract, inform and persuade customers to purchase their offerings. Using tertiary students in the Cape Coast Metropolis as the data source, this study primarily examined the influence of print advertisement used by telecom operators on purchasing decisions. It also sought to find out how price and service quality moderate these. The study employed the correlational study design. Convenience sampling was used to select 754 tertiary students from a total population of 17218. The main research instrument used was the questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics such as the mean, standard deviation, standard regression and hierarchical regression were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study showed magazine advert and not newspaper advert influenced the decisions of tertiary students to purchase telecom products. It was also revealed that price and service quality delivery moderate the relationship between print advertising and consumer purchasing decisions. It is recommended that the advertising budgetary expenditure of the telecom operators in Ghana should concentrate more on utilizing magazine when advertising their products.