The influence of differentiation strategy on performance of water bottling companies in Mombasa county, Kenya

Abstract

Building strong differentiation strategy to attain competitive advantage is a top priority amongstmany firms but it is not always an easy task to accomplish. Due to the increased globalization and competition, the management of strategy has become of importance and thus presents an interesting area to study. With the adoption of effective differentiation strategies, many companies may compete effectively and efficiently. This study, therefore, set out to investigate the influence of differentiation strategy on performance of branded bottled water, with special focus on the contributory roles of its various elements in influencing performance. The specific objective of the study was to determine the influence of differentiation strategy on performance of water bottling companies in Mombasa County, Kenya. Investigate the extent to which water bottling companies in Mombasa county use differentiation strategy. A cross-sectional explanatory design will be used. The target population in this studywas the registered water bottling companies in Mombasa County, Kenya. Both primary and secondary data was used. Primary data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and an interview guide. Secondary data was collected through records and documents review. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the properties of the mass data. Inferential statistics was derived using Pearson’s correlation and logistic regression analysis. Content analysis was carried out for qualitative data. The research results were presented in percentages, tables and graphs. The findings of the study show that there is a positive relationship between differentiation strategy and firm performance.Product differentiation strategy contributes more to the performance of water bottling companies than service differentiation strategy. At 5% level of significance and 95% level of confidence, product differentiation strategy had a 0.000 level of significance and service differentiation strategy showed a 0.005 level of significant. Hence the most significant factor is product differentiation strategy.