Perceived Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction of Supermarkets in Nairobi County

Abstract

Supermarkets are essential entities in economies globally due to their crucial function of providing and distributing basic human needs such as food items, consumer goods and lifestyle products. Intense competition among retailers in Kenya enables customers to easily switch between supermarkets in their quest to satisfy their dynamic preferences and needs. A review of various empirical studies shows that extensive research on customer satisfaction and perceived service quality using SERVQUAL model have been done in service industries like telecommunication, banking, health care and restaurants, however, a few studies have focused on supermarkets in Kenya. The study sought to fill this gap and complement current research on retailing services using SERVQUAL model. Determining perceived service quality and customer satisfaction of supermarkets in Nairobi County was the main aim of this study. A descriptive methodology was adopted as the appropriate research design in order to achieve the aim of the study. The study also applied stratified random sampling technique to divide the target population of 125 supermarkets into One-branch and Multi-branch strata. Yamane’s formula was used to obtain a sample size of 52 and 15 numbers of branches from each stratum respectively. Kothari’s formula was used to obtain a sample size of 384 respondents of which 300 and 84 were apportioned to the above strata respectively. Every 3rd respondent was selected at the exits of selected supermarkets in each stratum. To collect primary data a questionnaire that was self-administered was issued to the selected respondents. Analysis of the primary data collected was done using percentiles, frequency distribution, means, standard deviation, regression analysis, correlation analysis and ANOVA. The results of the analysis were presented on pie charts, tables, and as percentages. The findings revealed that customers’ perceptions of supermarkets in Nairobi County are very high. Tangibles and reliability dimensions have the lowest and highest perceptions of quality of service respectively. Customers are also very satisfied with the overall services and prices offered. It was found that perceived service quality and customer satisfaction exhibit a strong positive correlation.