ENTREPRENEURIAL MARKETING CAPABILITIES AND CUSTOMER RETENTION OF SUPERMARKET OUTLETS IN PORT HARCOURT - RIVERS STATE OF NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between Entrepreneurial Marketing Capabilities and Customer Retention of Supermarket Outlets in Port Harcourt, Rivers State of Nigeria. The study adopted the descriptive research survey. The population of the study comprised of twenty-eight (28) supermarket outlets gotten from Nigeria Business Directory. The unit population consisted of one hundred and twelve (112) staff. In line with the population of the study which is twenty-eight (28), the study adopted a census approach and studied the entire 28 supermarket outlets with a focus on the staff. The Structured questionnaire was employed as data collection instrument. The questionnaire was structured using the 5 point Likert scale. The Spearman’s (rho) correlation was used to analyze the relationship between independent and dependent variables at P>0.01 (two - tailed test). The results of the analysis were interpreted and findings of the study revealed that the various dimensions of entrepreneurial marketing capabilities showed a strong positive relationship with customer retention of supermarket outlets in Port Harcourt. The study concluded that supermarket outlets should continuously explore entrepreneurial opportunities because their resources can only enable them to temporary sustain competitive advantage, create value, take proactive steps and make ground breaking innovations. The study recommended that; entrepreneurial managers should always create avenues for innovations as it drives manufacturing activities and it enables a firm to compete favourably in its industry and improves sales growth and that entrepreneurial managers should always learn to innovate and create a source of customer value that would enhance unique combinations of resources to provide value to customers.