DETERMINANTS OF CUSTOMER RETENTION IN THE MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY IN KENYA: A CASE OF AIRTEL KENYA
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to explore the determinants of effective customer retention in the mobile communication industry in Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to examine how customer satisfaction, customer care service, sales promotion and price/ tariff structure influence customer retention in the mobile communication industry in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive survey and the study targeted 680 employees of Airtel Kenya.A sample of 68 respondents was used and stratified sampling technique was carried out and primary data was collected through the use of questionnaires. The secondary data was obtained from published documents such as journals, periodicals, magazines and reports to supplement the primary data. A pilot study was conducted for the data collection instrument. The data was analyzed with help of SPSS version 21 and Excel. The study adopted correlation and regression analysis at 5% level of confidence to determine strength and direction of the relationship of the variables under study. The analysis showed that customer satisfaction had the strongest positive (Pearson correlation coefficient =.837) influence on customer retention. In addition, customer care service and sales promotion were positively correlated while price/ tariff structure was negatively correlated to customer retention (Pearson correlation coefficient =.667, .639 and -.781) respectively. The study recommends that the organization to develop policies to ensure that there is customer care is well taken care of as it influences customer retention in Airtel Kenya, sales promotion should match with the changing environment, the organization should have a wide range of sales promotion to suit different people, offer continuous sale-promotion to its customers, enact strategies to ensure that there is sale-promotion of Airtel Kenya and appreciated by its customers and the organization should offer more sale-promotion than its competitors and ensure customers are satisfied with the prices offered by the service provider as the price is an indicator of the quality of service and need for the organization to offer relatively cheaper and affordable products as compared to other mobile companies.
Key Words: Customer Retention, Mobile Telecommunication Industry
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v2i2.185
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