The effect of service quality management on customer loyalty in the telecommunication industry.

Abstract

The study focused on the role of reliability, responsiveness and service tangibility on customer loyalty at MTN Uganda Limited. It was guided by three objectives which were: to establish the effect of service reliability on customer loyalty; to assess the effect of service responsiveness on customer loyalty; and to examine the contribution of service tangibility on customer loyalty. A case study design was adopted by the study. Data was collected from 122 respondents. SPSS version 20 was applied to generate the results of the study objectives. Data sources included primary data and secondary data. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. The findings showed that reliability; responsiveness and service tangibility were significantly related to customer loyalty. The findings imply that service quality is not the only factor that could lead to customer loyalty in the telecom sector. In conclusion, all the findings on the relationships between reliability, responsiveness and service tangibility revealed significant effect on customer loyalty. The findings confirmed that service quality was a major determinant of customer loyalty at MTN Uganda. The study recommends therefore, that management of MTN Uganda offer specialized training to staff in the area of service quality so as to foster reliability, responsiveness as well as service tangibility. The study recommends that in order to satisfy customers and turn them into loyal customers, MTN needs to deliver service in a more reliable, responsive and tangible manner. Likewise, to provide total satisfaction to customers, the management of the company should carryout customer loyalty surveys so as to assess whether its meeting customer expectations as desired by the customers