Customer Integration and Marketing Success of the Airlines Industry in Port-Harcourt Metropolis
Chapter One
Objective of the study
The main objective of the study is to investigate customer integration and marketing success of the airline industry in Portharcourt. The specific objectives are;
- To find out the relationship between the lack of motivation of the customer and the marketing success of airline industry in Portharcourt
- To find out the relationship between coordination overhead and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt
- To find out the relationship between loss of knowhow and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Customer Integration
Lau et al. (2010) stated that the only individual who can make a decision and have the ability to evaluate a product is the customer, because the customer has potential purchasing power, and as such is a decision maker from a marketing point of view. Moreover, information sharing on the basis of interactions between the customers and the organization enhances customer integration. Additionally, the relationships between customers and an organization enable the organization to raise its level of competence. Another definition of customer integration according to Kim (2009) is the organizational practices of identifying, explaining, and using customers to produce specific products according to their needs and in doing so maximize their expectations and satisfaction. Lau et al. (2010) shed light on information sharing through customer integration between customers and the organization itself. The feedback obtained by organizations from their customers provides them with all the information associated with operations such as inventory. A solid relationship with customers will be useful to enhance supply chain programs. Lotfi et al. (2013) highlighted that customer integration involved customers ‘opinions being included in the production process, by making the relationship between the customer and the manufacturer much easier. Knowing clearly the organization’s goals, intentions, and strategy can reduce uncertainty in the minds of customers. Nevertheless, the advantage of clarity might be outweighed by the loss of closeness and flexibility in highly formalized structure types. If designintegrative efforts are not up to date, based on customer requirements and opportunities, they are likely to create solutions that may be internally efficient yet externally unproductive. Ataseven and Nair (2017) have found that customer integration has a positive relation with financial performance. Noticeably, specific needs arising from well-functioning contacts and strategic alliances with customers may be of limited value if a business is not capable of adjusting products and process specifications to meet those needs
Concept of Organization Success
Success in today’s highly competitive marketplace will impose new and different demands on organizations. In many industries, a variety of highly similar products and services proliferate to the point where it is not uncommon for customers to have difficulty differentiating one from another. The road to corporate success no longer can be traversed merely with good products and clever marketing. Why some organisations are continuously successful, whereas others that started with the same promising appearance will get into trouble or even fail completely. There are no unitary definitions for concepts like “success” and “successful organisation” in the scientific literature (Likierman, 2006) and measuring organisation´s successfulness has been a long-term challenge for both managers and researchers. There are many aspects to clarify and agree in defining the success because it is not one-dimensional construct. For example, researchers have found it difficult to separate the concept of success from performance mainly because success can be defined in terms of certain elements of performance (Simpson, Padmore & Newman, 2012). Brush and Vanderwerf (1992) refer to success as a specific aspect of performance, and Brooksbank et al. (2003) equate success with high performance. Jennings and Beaver (1997) state that “success can no longer be regarded as synonymous with optimal performance” and argue that there must be “something more” to define organisational success. From this perspective, an organisation may be successful while failing to achieve the optimal level of performance in terms of growth and business development. At the same time, one of the leading management schools understands organisational success as the result of interpreting key figures (Likierman, 2006), but the problem lies in the fact that the scientific literature lacks defined key figures for the success measurement. In most literature, the organisational success is formed by measuring different financial figures from the past (Likierman, 2006; Flamholtz and Aksehirli, 2000; Maltz, Shenhar and Reilly, 2003), mostly comparing organisation´s return on assets (Likierman, 2006), profit or turnover results (Maltz, Shenhar and Reilly, 2003; Saparnis, Bersenaite and Saparniene, 2009) with competitors, ideals or the objectives set. Consequently, the attainment of these objectives becomes one of the principal criteria for success, as defined by the manager (Jennings & Beaver, 1997). Additionally, when setting a goal solely on profit and using only this for success measuring, we will guarantee the surveillance of only one party’s interest (the owners), and this is not acceptable (Škerlavaj, Indihar, Škrinjar & Dimovski, 2007). In published scientific articles, it can be seen that in 1987-1993 in measuring the success of the organisation, mostly only one meter was used.
Chapter Three
Research methodology
Research Design
The research design adopted in this research work is the survey research design which involves the usage of self-designed questionnaire in the collection of data. Under the survey research design, primary data of this study will be collected from Med-View Airline and Arik Airline in Portharcourt in order to determine customer integration and marketing success of airline industry in Portharcourt. The design was chosen because it enables the researcher to collect data without manipulation of any variables of interest in the study. The design also provides opportunity for equal chance of participation in the study for respondents.
Population of Study
The population of study is the census of all items or a subject that possess the characteristics or that have the knowledge of the phenomenon that is being studied (Asiaka, 1991). It also means the aggregate people from which the sample is to be drawn.
Population is sometimes referred to as the universe. The population of this research study will be Seventy-five (75) selected staffs of Arik Airline and med-view Airline in Portharcourt
Sample Size and Sampling Techniques
The researcher made use of stratified sampling technique because all the members have the same probability of occurrence. The researcher narrowed down the samples to selected staffs Med-View Airline and Arik Airline in Portharcourt in order to determine customer integration and marketing success of airline industry in Portharcourt.
In this study, the researcher used the [TARO YAMANE FORMULA] to determine the sample size.
Yamane (1967:886) provides a simplified formula to calculate sample sizes.
ASSUMPTION:
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter is about the analysis and presentation of data collected from the field through questionnaire. The analysis of the data with particular question immediately followed by the presentation of findings.
As mentioned in chapter three, 63 questionnaires were administered and 50 were retrieved and necessary analysis was carried out on them and presented as follows:
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain customer integration and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of customer integration and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt.
Summary
This study was on customer integration and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt. Three objectives were raised which included: To find out the relationship between lack of motivation of the customer and marketing success of airline industry in Portharcourt, to find out the relationship between coordination overhead and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt and to find out the relationship between loss of knowhow and marketing success of airline industry in portharcourt. The total population for the study is 75 staffs of med-view airline and Arik air. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
From the study, it can be concluded that in the airlines consumer experience is very important. From all the statistical analysis, it is shown that trust in the brand is the most important factor in consumer experience and it has a positive relationship with loyalty and advocacy. However certain factors such as dynamic pricing can have a negative effect on loyalty and unique services can have a negative effect on advocacy. However, the conclusion is limited to the data collected by the researchers and cannot be generalized. Hence, airlines industry should focus on the factors identified in factor analysis to enhance consumer experience. These are brand factors, services, loyalty, pricing, loyalty points and consumer engagement.
Recommendation
The study recommends that management of the organization should note that the ultimate success of firms will depend on management’s ability to integrate the company’s intricate network of business relationships, allowing improved decision making and consequently, reducing cost and customer response time.
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