INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN WARID TELECOM VOICE SERVICES

Abstract

The study investigated the institutional factors influencing customer satisfaction in Warid Telecom Uganda Voice Services. It was guided by the following objectives; to examine to which extent reliability of network affects customer satisfaction, to find out how billing affects customer satisfaction and to examine how complaints resolution influences customer satisfaction. The study used cross sectional survey design where both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used. The sample size (N=384) consisted of subscribers of Warid telecom of which 38 were postpaid while 346 were prepaid users. Data was collected through questionnaires and interviews. Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis was used for analyzing the hypotheses and results obtained showed a statistically significant positive relationship between the independent variables (the network reliability, billing, complaints resolution) and the dependent variable (customer satisfaction). Network reliability was found lacking. Billing was revealed to be reasonable due to the many promotions however it influences satisfaction of prepaid users to a very small extent while postpaid users were found to be less concerned about billing. Complaints resolution process was identified to be an area that satisfies mostly postpaid users. The study concludes that the reliability of network, billing and complaints handling influence customer satisfaction. It is recommended that further research be conducted to reveal more factors influencing customer satisfaction because of the weak strength of relationships between the independent and dependent variables. Also it is recommended that new capacity sites should be acquired to improve on the network reliability and that the customer care helpline should be less congested this can be done by offering multiple lines to callers or by recruiting more agents.