MJAMR

Service reliability and its impact on customer loyalty among communications companies in Uganda. A case study of Airtel Uganda Limited

Kamoga Ali


Abstract

Service reliability refers to the ability of communications service providers to consistently provide their services to customers without any disruptions or failures. This study aims to examine the impact of service reliability on customer loyalty among leading communications companies in Uganda, using Airtel Uganda Limited as a case study. Airtel Uganda is one of the largest mobile network operators in the country, competing against other major players like MTN and Africell to attract and retain customers. However, as customer expectations for high-quality and uninterrupted service continue rising in the digital era, communications providers must ensure optimum network performance and minimize service downtime to satisfy subscribers and encourage continued patronage. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research approaches involving questionnaires, interviews and secondary data collection, this investigation seeks to determine the relationship between Airtel's network uptime and downtime records over the past three years and metrics like subscriber retention rates, churn levels, complaint volumes and brand perception scores. The research also gauges customer satisfaction with Airtel's network coverage footprint, data speeds, call connectivity rates and responsiveness to outage situations through their feedback. By identifying key aspects of service that most impact customer satisfaction and switching decisions, the study aims to provide Airtel with actionable recommendations on network optimization strategies, service disruption mitigation plans and loyalty programs that can help strengthen bonds with clients and drive sustained growth in this intensely competitive industry space. Findings revealed that there was a weak positive correlation (r=.250) between service reliability and customer loyalty. Since the correlation does not indicate causal effect in terms of the percentage variance in the dependent variable caused by the independent variable, a coefficient of determination (rho2=.063), which was a square of the correlation coefficient was computed. The coefficient of determination was expressed into percentage to determine the effect of service reliability on customer loyalty. This revealed that service reliability accounted for 6.3% of variance in customer loyalty. Introducing well-publicized service level guarantees and compensation policies can assist in rebuilding reputational trust after past disruptions while expanding self-care digital channels may alleviate overwhelmed support infrastructure stresses.

Keywords

Service reliability customer loyalty communication companies and Airtel Uganda Limited
Metropolitan Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research

Cite This Article

Kamoga Ali (2024). Service reliability and its impact on customer loyalty among communications companies in Uganda. A case study of Airtel Uganda Limited. Metropolitan Journal of Academic Multidisciplinary Research, 3(2). https://journals.miu.ac.ug/pages/article.php?article_id=1692

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