Product Dispensing Management and Customer Satisfaction: A study of Retail Outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in South-west Nigeria

Abstract

The growth of the Nigeria downstream sector has been phenomenal with the attendant competition for sizeable share of the ever-increasing market opportunities. It is obvious that increase in market opportunities in this sector have led to growth in the number of product marketing companies in Nigeria that are rarely matched with an equal performance, particularly, in the form of satisfaction of customers. Obviously, inefficient management of product dispensing has severally led to gross customers’ dissatisfaction with the service level experienced in NNPC outlets due to issues surrounding product’s quality, quantity and price. This study examine product dispensing management system and its relative effect on customer satisfaction in selected Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) retail outlets in South-West, Nigeria. Specific objectives include to investigate the extent to which dispensed product quantity and quality significantly influence customer satisfaction in the NNPC retail outlets in South-West, Nigeria. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was designed to collect primary data from a sample of 384 selected from the six mega stations and twelve affiliate stations spread across the South-West region of Nigeria. The study hypotheses were tested using multiple regression analysis, with the aid of SPSS. Findings revealed that dispensed product quantity and quality of product dispensed significantly influence customer satisfaction, with regression results showing R2=0.772; P<0.005 at 5% level of significance. The study concluded that the quality and quantity of petroleum dispensed by NNPC retail business units are major predictors of customer satisfaction. The study therefore recommended that NNPC retail outlets must largely embrace appropriate product dispense system with strong emphasis on appropriate dispensed product quantity and quality so as to adequately promote and improve the level of customers’ satisfaction.