Customers’ retainership in the eatery subsector in Kwara State: the TQM option

Adeoti Johnson Olabode, Adefil

Abstract

The eatery sector is experiencing a boom in Kwara State. This is because it has taken over the informal cafeterias with the aesthetic beauty that is being added to the service. The emergence of eateries has reduced unemployment in a way. But, recently there has been “customers swapping” as new eateries emerge. The proliferation of eateries in Nigeria has created a class distinction between the formal and informal sector of the food industry. The emergence of new entrant eateries has placed a threat on the existing ones and hence rationing the market shares among the old and the news. This paper seeks to investigate how Total Quality Management can be used to retain customers who have hitherto been dissatisfied with the services of the eateries. A total of 350 questionnaires were distributed among the 7-functional eateries in Ilorin. A Likert scale of 5-points was used to measure the degree of respondents’ responses to the 18 service quality factors. Frequency counts and ANOVA were used for data analysis. The ANOVA was used to test whether there is a significant difference in application of the 18 service quality factors among the 7 eateries. The data revealed that there is a significant difference in application among the 7 eateries. The paper concludes that based on the relationship of the 18 service quality factors, Security, Responsiveness, Functionality and Courtesy should be focused upon for retainership of their customers.