Service Quality Peculiarities and Customer Satisfaction of Agricultural Merchants in Rivers State of Nigeria

Abstract:

The study investigated the association between service quality peculiarities and customer satisfaction of agricultural merchants in Rivers State. The study adopted the descriptive method for the collection of vital information from sample customers of agricultural merchants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria. The survey design was also, adopted in this study as a means of gathering information from a group of people under study. The study adopted a simple random sampling technique to choose 125 customers of Agricultural Merchants in Rivers State. Primary data were collected through the use of the questionnaire administered on 125 customers of Agricultural Merchants in Rivers State, selected through a simple random sampling technique. However, out of 125 copies of the questionnaire were returned, the usable copies numbered 100 (80%). On the other hand, 20% (25 copies) of the questionnaire was not returned. The rate of usage as considered evidence has shown that 100 returned and usable copies represent 80% of the total copies of the questionnaire produced and distributed. Hence, these 100 copies were used for analysis. Pearson’s Product Moment Coefficient technique was used to test the hypotheses while, the ANOVA technique was used to test for the difference in mean between service quality peculiarities and customer satisfaction. Results revealed a significant relationship between service quality peculiarities and customer satisfaction of agricultural merchants in Rivers State of Nigeria. The study recommends that Nigerian Agricultural merchants should emphasize more on service quality peculiarities that relate maximally with customer loyalty. The study suggests that further studies be carried out on other industries other than the Agricultural Industry to verify the results of this study.