Evaluating the effect of customer loyalty strategies on customer satisfaction among selected global system for mobile communications (GSM) services providers in south eastern Nigeria

Mobile telecommunication companies in Nigeria have lackluster attitude and approach towards delivering superior customer service, values and satisfaction but, are rather more interested in maximizing profit. The research was conducted to evaluate the impact of customer loyalty strategies adopted among selected Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) services providers in Nigeria on customer satisfaction. The specific objectives of the study are to investigate the comparative impact of relationship marketing strategies on customer satisfaction and also, to evaluate the effect of customer retention strategies adopted among MTN, Glo, and Airtel networks in South Eastern Nigeria). The population of the study is 8,297334; representing the number of GSM subscribers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states of South Eastern Nigeria. The sample size is 400 using Taro Yamani sample size determination method. 300 were correctly filled and returned while 100 were not returned. For the validity of the instrument, the questionnaire was vetted by the marketing experts based on face validity in terms of relevance to the subject matter, objective of the study, coverage of the content areas, appropriateness of language usage and clarity of purpose. The value of the test of reliability is 0.930 which was conducted using Cronbach’s Alpha. Primary data was adopted for the study and data was analysed using ANOVA. Two hypotheses were stated, tested and findings on the effect of customer relationship strategies revealed that the rate of customer relationship marketing strategies is low across the three networks. Also, it was revealed that the rate of customer retention was low for MTN and slightly below average for both glo and Airtel networks.  It was concluded that GSM providers have not done enough to improve customer satisfaction through the level of loyalty strategies adopted on their subscribers. The researcher therefore recommends that customer retention and relationship marketing strategies should be boosted.