Consumer Preference Of Different Cyber Café Services In Kenya

Abstract

This study was about factors that influenced the preference for cyber café services by consumers in Kisii Town. The objectives of the study were to find out the services a cyber café offered that enticed people to visit them and spend time and/or money using the services, to establish the main potential users of the cyber café services, and to evaluate the factors that influenced preference for different cyber café services. To achieve this, a sample of 300 respondents in all the 12-cyber cafés was selected. 20 customers were picked using simple random sampling from each cyber café, 5 management staff (3 caretakers and 2 executive staff to represent the ownership of the cyber café). Questionnaires were administered to the cyber café customers and to the cyber café owners during repeated visits to each cyber café over the period of study. Assistants presented copies of the questionnaires to customers to complete as they left the cyber cafés and supplementary information was obtained from management staff of the cyber cafés. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Chi-square test was used to establish the relationship between customer categories and principal factors that influenced them to use the cyber cafés. The Chi-square value that was obtained at 95% confidence level revealed that there was more than the principle factors that influenced customer’s choice for cyber café services. The findings can be used by cyber café owners to identify consumer’s preference for cyber café, furnish them with knowledge of consumer expectations, aid entrepreneurs to increase sales through customer retention strategies and help future researchers, especially, in the fields of marketing. The research could also be used to strategize how to modify the cyber café to meet consumers’ expectations, gain their loyalty and improve its services.