Quality Drivers, Managerial Focus, Customer Perception and Satisfaction in Large Maize Flour Mills in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

This study evaluated the influence of managerial focus and customer perception on the relationship between quality drivers and customer satisfaction within large Maize Flour Mills in Nairobi. Quality drivers included product quality, service quality, complaints handling, ease of doing business and product price. Customer perception constructs were customer’s desire for features critical to quality, brand imagery, firm imagery and reference to competitive substitutes. Managerial focus was studied through employee attitude, firm agility and firm innovativeness. The three variables were used to form an integrated model to broaden the scope of customer satisfaction assessment. Primary data were collected in February 2013 from 13 Maize Flour Mills grinding at least 15 MT of maize per day and 81 of their direct Business Customer firms randomly selected. Results showed that the influence of quality drivers on customer satisfaction within large Maize Flour Mills in Nairobi is both direct and partially mediated through customer perception, both influences being positive and statistically significant (β = 0.391, p< 0.05 and β = 0.296, p< 0.05, respectively). Quality of service emerged as a key driver of satisfaction as it had positive and significant correlations with customer satisfaction (β= 0.441, p< 0.05) and with most of the other quality drivers and intention to recommend. On customer perception, brand imagery had positive effect on satisfaction (β= 0.531, p< 0.05) followed by desire for features critical to quality (β= 0.259, p< 0.05). Customer satisfaction emerged as a moderate predictor of intention to recommend a brand or firm (β= 0.481, p<0.05) suggesting that it is necessary to directly survey for referrals or intention to recommend. Managerial focus had a statistically significant direct effect on customer satisfaction (p< 0.05) but its effect on the link between quality drivers and customer satisfaction was not statistically significant. Among the managerial focus constructs, employee attitude had a positive effect on customer satisfaction (p< 0.05). The leading perceived barrier to innovation was lack of a vivid or clear need for innovation within the mills. The joint influence of quality drivers, customer perception and managerial focus on customer satisfaction was statistically significant (p< 0.05). It is concluded that besides having the primary quality drivers, customer satisfaction metrics and enhancement programs need to incorporate customer perception and managerial focus. The attention of senior management to firm upstream enabler variables such as employee attitude directly influences customer satisfaction and it is necessary to strive to improve customer perceptions related to brand and firm imagery. Improvement in the quality of service plays a major role in the dynamics of customer satisfaction.