Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Brand Loyalty

Abstract

Globally, customer satisfaction remains a major predictor of brand loyalty and customer satisfaction in the telecommunication industry. Regardless of this, mobile telecommunication firms in Kenya are yet to achieve the required brand loyalty levels. This is evident given the high levels of switching freedom and churn rate levels, which rose from 21.20% to 31.45% in Safaricom, while in Airtel, this rose from 4.9% to 6.0% in 2021. Studies on the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty revealed both positive and negative results. The main purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. The study hinged on the theory of planned behaviour. The research used descriptive research design. The target population was 124,849 subscribers drawn from four telecoms: Safaricom, Airtel, Telecom and Equitel. The stratified sampling technique was used to select a representative sample of 443 respondents. The primary data for the study was collected using a closed-ended survey instrument. Quantitative data was analyzed using both descriptive statistics (frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Correlation and Regression). The findings indicated that there is a positive and significant relationship between customer satisfaction and brand loyalty, where customer satisfaction explained 50.9% of the variance in mobile telecommunication service providers' brand loyalty. The study concludes that customer satisfaction has a significant effect on brand loyalty. The study recommended that the telecom management should put more effort into service promptness, responsiveness, staff courtesy and customer understanding to enhance brand loyalty in their companies.