SERVICE INNOVATION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION OF TELECOMMUNICATION FIRMS IN PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Godwin Poi, John Azuma

Abstract


This study empirically investigated the relationship between service innovativeness and customer satisfaction of telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt, using the diffusion of innovation theory. The study adopted a cross-sectional survey research design. The population of the study was 3,254 undergraduate students’ active voice subscribers of the four major service providers (MTN, Airtel, Globalcom and 9Mobile) in the Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt. The Taro Yamane formula was used to determine the sample size of 400. The four hypotheses of the study were tested using Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient with the help SPSS 21. It was found that there is a positive and significant relationship between service innovativeness (proxied by New Service Concept and Customer Interface) and customer satisfaction (proxied by Customer Loyalty and Customer Referral). Based on the finding, it was concluded that service innovativeness is a veritable tool for building loyal and satisfied customers. The researchers recommended that telecommunication firms in Port Harcourt should continually develop new and improved concepts of their services in order to gain and retain customer loyalty and referrals.

 

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service innovativeness, new service concept, customer interface, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, customer referral

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejmms.v7i3.1507

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