INFLUENCE OF COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AMONG COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KENYA

Abstract

In today’s competitive, and highly changing global economy, there is growing demand especially for service driven firms for practical guidelines in developing a customer focus. Banking institutions across the globe have recognized the importance of competitive strategies to develop and maintain enduring relationship with their customers as two crucial parameters leading to increased business profits once the customers are satisfied. Suggested reasons for this apparent trend include customer needs keep changing and have to be addressed on focus thus competitive strategies are the subject of the day. Many commercial banks have been facing severe competition and major customers’ switch off. Banking operations are becoming increasingly customer oriented.  This study therefore sought to establish the effect of competitive strategies on customer satisfaction among commercial banks in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design aimed at investigating the effect of competitive strategies on customer satisfaction among commercial banks in Kenya. The study population consisted of 42 commercial banks with a sample size of 126 respondents which included management staff and bank customers selected purposively . Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, multiple regression analysis and content analysis. The study findings indicated that the two competitive strategies studied that included; market focus strategy and differentiation strategy were adopted by majority of the commercial banks in Kenya to enhance customer satisfaction. The commercial banks should build the capacity of its marketing teams to handle different market niches. The commercial banks should promote culture of innovation to ensure that it offers highly differentiated products and services that meet specific needs of its clientele. The management of the banks should allocate more financial and human resources to continuously monitor the highly dynamic customer needs to innovatively create products to match future customer needs. Key Words: Market Focus, Differentiation Strategy, Customer Satisfaction