| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to establish the influence of quality drivers on the satisfaction of direct
business customers within large Maize Flour Mills in Nairobi and assess the mediation effect of
customer perception on this relationship. The quality drivers studied were product quality,
service quality, complaints handling, ease of doing business and product price. Customer
perception constructs studied were customer’s desire for features critical to quality, brand
imagery, firm imagery and reference to competitive substitutes. Primary data were collected in
February 2013 by use of questionnaires from 81 direct Business Customer firms randomly
selected from 13 Maize Flour Mills in the study area grinding at least 15 MT of maize per day.
Results showed that the influence of quality drivers on customer satisfaction is both direct and
partially mediated by customer perception, both influences being positive and statistically
significant (p< 0.01). Quality of service significantly influenced customer satisfaction (β= 0.441,
p< 0.01) and most of the other quality drivers and intention to recommend. Brand imagery
significantly influenced satisfaction (β= 0.531, p< 0.01) followed by desire for features critical to
quality (β= 0.259, p< 0.01). These results have implications for marketing theory. The finding
that customer perception partially mediated the process of customer satisfaction agrees with the
consumer attitude theories which postulate that attitude and subjective norms in conjunction
with cognitive and emotional considerations influence intentions which in turn give impetus for
action. The study contributes to the evolution and adaptation of customer satisfaction models by
adding customer perception as mediator variables. Further, the results have implications useful
at national policy level. Kenya’s strategy for revitalizing agriculture and vision 2030 both aspire
to increase the country’s regional and global trade through improved efficiency and
competitiveness at firm level, agro-processing and the marketing system including the wholesale
and retail sectors. The volume of trade within the East African Community is expected to
increase as member states reduce trade barriers. This will open new trade opportunities but
could increase competition. Training local firms on the issues of quality drivers and customer
perception can help to improve their regional and global competitiveness. For managerial
practice, the results demonstrate that frequent feedback on customer perception is necessary
and that improvements in the quality of service go a long way in improving customer perception
concerning other quality drivers and satisfaction. It is concluded that customer satisfaction
enhancement programs and evaluation models need to integrate primary drivers of quality with
key drivers of customer perception. The study was limited in a number of ways. Due to time,
cost and other constraints a cross-sectional research design was used and focused on firms in
Nairobi. Data were collected from respondents once to get their views and perceptions concerning a limited number of variables and constructs. However, perceptions vary over time and across markets or regions as influenced by changes in consumer preferences or economic changes that influence purchase and consumption patterns. Opportunities therefore exist for longitudinal and wider studies in the same area of research. Key Words:Quality drivers, customer perception, customer satisfaction (CS), Nairobi, Kenya | en_US |
