The Influence Of Marketing Strategy On Brand Loyalty Of Instant Coffee Brands: A Case Of Supermarket Customers In Nairobi

Abstract

The instant coffee industry in Kenya has a wide range of product brands and keeping pace with this variety is not an easy task for the ordinary consumer. Most industries have come up with new brands to not only retain consumers but also to attract new ones. Such industries also acknowledge that repeat customers play an important role as such consumers are willing to spend more, purchase frequently, seek for more information, are more resilient to rival‟s promotions and are more likely to spread positive and constructive information about the brand. The instant coffee brand in Kenya has seen a lot of progress and rivalry, with the growth of many producers and coffee brands. The goal of every firm is to be in the lead over their rivals in every phase and dimension of the competition. To attain this, they have to take on strategies to successfully and efficiently achieve brand loyalty within their industry. Active response is expected among firms as a solution to deal with the effects of variation and competition in their environment. This study therefore sought to investigate the influence of pricing, packaging and brand awareness on brand loyalty in instant coffee brands among supermarkets customers within the Nairobi Central Business District (NCBD). The population of study comprised of 10 supermarkets licensed as large retailers operating within the Nairobi Central Business District. A semi structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data for this study. The data collected in this study using the questionnaire was prepared for analysis. This study adopted the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software. The study used two statistical tests that is Descriptive Statistics and regression analysis. Descriptive Statistics was used to analyze the background information and to examine the existence of co-relationships between variables. To investigate the effect brand awareness and packaging price had on the brand loyalty of supermarkets customer‟s found in Nairobi Central Business District (NCBD), regression analysis was used. From the study findings, the study concludes that brand awareness, attractive packaging and reasonable pricing positively influence brand loyalty of a product. The study findings revealed that consumers are moved to buy a product when they see advertisement of their preferred brand. The study thus concludes that advertising creates awareness of a product and thus improves the customer loyalty. The study further concludes that availability of different packaging sizes with different prices attracts more attention to consumers compared to a brand that has only one packaging size.