A survey of factors that influence customer Choice of petrol stations in Nairobi

Abstract

The study was aimed at studying the factors that motorists III Nairobi consider in selecting the petrol stations from which they purchase their oil products and related services. The motivation behind this study was the fact that the oil industry in Kenya having being liberalised about eight years ago, has since witnessed an increase in the number of petrol stations with all sorts of designs, locations thus providing motorists with a wide range to choose from. As a result, oil companies need to understand what the motivation behind customer petrol station selection. The study was a survey of factors considered by motorists in Nairobi in their selection of which petrol stations to purchase their products from. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire through personal interviews with respondents who were motorists in various petrol stations in Nairobi. Data was then analysed using descriptive statistics, facilitated by statistical package for social sciences (SPSS). Overall, the research revealed that Nairobi motorists are primarily concerned with the quality of products or services they are purchasing from a petrol station. Quality of station staff is a critical factor in service station selection. The research also revealed that other factors like location, price, mode of payment are considered through to a lesser extend. Reference groups like family and friends, were found to exert the least effect on service station selection. The researcher therefore suggests that future research should be done for rural markets and also other major towns in Kenya to see the cbrrelation of these findings with those obtained in these markets.