Factors that determine brand loyalty: the case of the petroleum marketing industry in Kenya

Abstract

This study was conducted with the objective of establishing the factors that determine loyalty to a Petroleum Marketing Company in Kenya. A further objective was to determine the most important of these factors. The study was conducted in Nairobi with the focus being determination of factors affecting loyalty to Petrol Stations located in Nairobi. To achieve the above objective, a sample of 120 car owners and petroleum fuel consumers was identified and questionnaires administered to these individuals. The questionnaire consisted of Likert scale and semi structured questions. Respondents were drawn from willing shoppers at the major shopping malls and from organizations. In the various organizations, a contact person was established to assist in collecting responses in order to improve the response rate. A respondent recruitment guide was used to ensure that the questionnaire was administered to car owners who ultimately were in control of their choice of fueling points. Analysis of the data collected involved mainly descriptive statistics. Ranking was conducted based on the data generated. In view of the large number of variables under study, factor analysis was conducted to group the variables based on their ascertained inter-relationship. Data analysis revealed that there are many factors that contribute to a petroleum consumer's choice of a fueling point. Factors such as product quality, expedient service, petrol station attendants' appearance and product knowledge, additional service offered by petrol station's attendants and low price offered emerged as being important. Factor analysis established seven (7) inter-related groups of variables. It revealed the inter-dependencies of two or more variables which require to be jointly addressed in order to achieve the desired customer perception. Upon ranking of the individual variables, product quality and guarantees was rated the most important factor. Ranking of the 7 emergent factors comprising of the initial 20 variables, revealed that, willingness by petrol station attendants to offer additional services such as under the bonnet checks, windscreen cleaning and tyre pressure checks was considered the most important factor in determining loyalty to a Petroleum Marketing Company's brand.