360 Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 2, Nos. 3/4, 2009 Income as a determinant of the acquisition of cellular products and services by tertiary students Antonie Drotsky* and David Benjamin Janse van Rensburg Department of Marketing, Logistics and Sport Management Tshwane University of Technology Pretoria, South Africa Fax: +27 12 382 5070 E-mail: drotskygap1@tut.ac.za E-mail: jansevanrensburgdb@tut.ac.za *Corresponding author Johan W. de Jager Department of Marketing, Logistics and Sport Management Tshwane University of Technology Pretoria, South Africa Fax: +27 12 382 5627 E-mail: dejagerjw@tut.ac.za Abstract: Cellular phones are not seen as a luxury for a select few but have become a necessity for every person and obtained for a multitude of reasons (Mutula, 2002). Students, similar to other consumers, use and consume cellular communication products and services. Profitable opportunities exist should products and services be developed to meet the specific expectations and requirements of the student cellular communication market. One element that has an influence is their available income. Information on the influence of income can help cellular telecommunication ventures to develop marketing plans for the student market. The purpose of this study was to determine whether there were any differences between high- and low-income group students in their selection of a cellular phone brand or network operator. Two hypotheses were set to determine if there would be any significant differences between the two income groups once independent decision making was possible. Keywords: students; cellular phones; network operator; income; cellular telecommunication industry. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Drotsky, A., van Rensburg, D.B.J. and de Jager, J.W. (2009) ‘Income as a determinant of the acquisition of cellular products and services by tertiary students’, Int. J. Business Excellence, Vol. 2, Nos. 3/4, pp.360–373. Biographical notes: Antonie Drotsky is a Lecturer at the Department of Marketing, Logistics and Sport Management, Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa where he lecturers in different marketing subjects. His field of interest is personal selling. He is also involved with industry research. As an author, he has contributed chapters to books, journals and conference proceedings. Copyright © 2009 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.