Moderating Effect of Marketing Mix Strategy on the Relationship Between Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction of Commercial Bank Customers, Nairobi Kenya

Abstract

Marketing strategy remains a critical driver of customer satisfaction and competitiveness in the banking industry globally. Despite this, Commercial banks in Kenya are yet to attain required customer satisfaction levels. This is evident in the low average customer satisfaction index (CSI) which dropped from 67% in 2011 with a downward trend to 60% in 2015 way below the Kenyan Banking industry benchmark of 77%. Studies on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction revealed both positive and negative results. These suggest that the relationship may be affected by other factors such as marketing mix strategy. Previous studies have not addressed the role of marketing mix strategy comprising of product, price, promotion, place, people, process and physical evidence in the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. The role of a moderating variable like marketing mix strategy can have a strong influence on the strength of the relationship thus it’s needed for the study. The main purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of marketing mix strategy on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction of commercial bank customers in Nairobi, Kenya.