BRANDING STRATEGIES, SERVICE QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN THE OIL INDUSTRY IN KENYA.

Abstract

The Kenyan petroleum sector is a very competitive and dynamic market where companies like Rubis Energy, Vivo Energy and TotalEnergies make huge investments on branding strategies with an aim of ensuring customer satisfaction. In spite of these, issues relating to inconsistency in service provision, long lines, and volatility of prices still plague customer experiences. The purpose of this research was thus to identify how branding strategies (brand refresh, brand merger, and brand reinvention) influence customer satisfaction in the oil industry of Kenya and the moderating effect of the service quality. The research was pegged on the Brand Equity Theory, SERVQUAL (RATER) Model and Expectation Confirmation Theory. The explanatory research design was adopted in order to draw causal relationships among the research variables. A total of 835 station managers with Rubis Energy, Vivo Energy and TotalEnergies were used as the target population. With the help of the Yamane formula, the sample of 270 respondents was chosen by means of proportionate stratified random sampling. Primary data was collected using structured questionnaires and the questionnaires were tested in terms of validity and reliability where all Cronbach alpha coefficients were greater than 0.7. Data analysis was done based on descriptive statistics (means, frequencies, and standard deviations) to summarize responses and inferential statistics, such as correlation, multiple regression, and moderation tests, to test hypotheses and support conclusions. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 31.0 and data was collected under ethical standards approved. The results have been provided in form of tables and figures. The results showed that brand refresh, brand merger and brand reinventions all had positive and significant influence on customer satisfaction with a summative influence of brand refresh (R 2 = 0.520). Of the predictors, brand refresh and brand reinvention showed most significant effect but brand merger also had positive effect but with less impact. The findings also demonstrated that service quality, which was assessed based on the SERVQUAL dimensions of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles, was a significant moderator of the relationship between branding strategies and customer satisfaction which reinforced the positive impacts of branding initiatives. The study concluded that branding strategies that were complemented by customer satisfaction and loyalty led to effective management in customer satisfaction and loyalty in the petroleum industry. It advises the oil marketing companies to embrace the concept of integrated branding which entails a combination of brand refresh, strategic mergers, and continuous reinvention as well as a consistent and quality customer service. The policy makers and specifically the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) were urged to come up with mechanisms that enhance transparency in branding and a standard that ensures minimum service quality in the industry. The research also did not cover all the oil marketing firms and regions (Nairobi, Machakos, and Kiambu), which might be restrictive to generalization. Future studies are advised to broaden the research area and include longitudinal study designs in order to determine the long-term impacts of the branding strategies on satisfaction. The results help enrich the marketing literature in terms of supporting the Brand Equity Theory, SERVQUAL Model and the Expectation Confirmation Theory in an emerging market environment, as well as to provide practical implications to marketers and regulators on how to match branding with customer satisfaction in the oil sector of Kenya.