| dc.description.abstract | Understanding relationship marketing practices and their enhancement of customer satisfaction
from consumers’ point of view was the area of interest for this study. Grounded on practice
theory, Rahim organizational conflict inventory model, Social exchange theory and Expectation
disconfirmation theory, the study sought to examine the effect of relationship marketing
dimensions: Information sharing, product customization, conflict handling and reciprocity, on
customer satisfaction moderated by switching cost. A positivist paradigm research philosophy
guided the study with deductive research approach employed in order to allow for the
development of hypotheses by use of existing theories. Quantitative research techniques were
employed to analyze data. The study data was attained from a sample size of 384 customers
derived from a target population of 1,055,298 tier one supermarket customers within Nairobi
county, Kenya. A response rate of 85.68% was attained translating to 329 valid questionnaires.
Descriptive statistics was used to summarize data and show meaningful patterns while inferential
statistics which included regression and correlation analysis employed to test the study
hypotheses. The study models were deemed fit due to significant F statistics at 0.05 level of
significance attained for each. From the attained significant beta coefficients, the results revealed
that each independent variable was significant in affecting customer satisfaction among tier one
supermarkets in Nairobi, Kenya since all the null hypothesis, H01, H02, H03 and H04 were rejected.
The study also recorded positive changes in coefficient of determinations for each variable after
incorporating the moderating variable ‘switching cost’ in each respective model. This proved
that the moderating variable had a significant positive moderating effect on each independent
variable’s relationship with customer satisfaction. A moderated multiple regression model with
all the study variables acting together also recorded a positive change in coefficient of
determination against the non-moderated multiple regression model which led to alternative
hypothesis, Ha5 being adopted. In addition, the moderated model recorded insignificant betas for
information sharing and conflict handling meaning that switching cost had no moderating effect
in them in the model. The correlation analysis at 0.01 level of significance revealed information
sharing and product customization had a low positive correlation with customer satisfaction
while conflict handling and reciprocity had a moderate positive correlation with customer
satisfaction. The study therefore concludes that application of relationship marketing practices
significantly improve customer satisfaction while presence of switching cost has a positive
moderation the relationship. The study therefore recommends that supermarket management
should focus on enhancing relationship marketing practices through training of staff as a means
of sustaining customer satisfaction with more emphasis on reciprocity. The study filled a
knowledge gap concerning relationship marketing practices by theorizing relationship marketing
practices based on practice theory in addition to contributing to existing literature by including
switching cost as a moderating variable in the model. The study findings shall also be used to
improve customer management policy decisions by retail organizations and marketing
practitioners. The findings and recommendations can be used to form future research decisions
by scholars and researchers even in other sectors of the economy. | en_US |
