PRODUCT REBRANDING STRATEGIES AND CUSTOMER RETENTION OF BAKERY FIRMS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

This study explored product rebranding strategies and customer retention of bakery firms in Rivers State. The aim of this study was to ascertain the nature of relationship that exists between product rebranding strategies (product redesign, product renaming and product repositioning) and customer retention (repeat patronage and customer referrals) of bakery firms in Rivers State. Six (6) research questions and hypotheses were developed to address the objectives of the study. The study adopted the positivism philosophy and the cross-sectional survey research design. The population of this study consisted of 33 registered bakery firms in Rivers State. A study subject of 231 managers were drawn from the 33 registered bakery firms in Rivers State. The census sampling technique was adopted in this study where all the members of the population constitute the sampling frame for the study. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (r) was used to test the hypotheses. The analysis was performed with the aid of the SPSS version 23.0. The findings showed that product redesign has a significant relationship with repeat patronage and customer referrals of bakery firms in Rivers State. The study also revealed that product renaming has a significant relationship with repeat patronage and customer referrals of bakery firms in Rivers State. The study also found that product repositioning is a significant predictor of repeat patronage and customer referrals of bakery firms in Rivers State. Based on these findings, it is concluded that product rebranding strategies such as product redesign, product renaming and product repositioning have significant relationship with customer retention as measured by repeat patronage and customer referrals of bakery firms in Rivers State. Therefore, it is recommended that bakery firms in Nigeria should adopt product rebranding strategies such as product redesign, product renaming and product repositioning as it would increase their customer retention rate.