EFFECT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON CUSTOMERS RETENTION IN HOTELS IN AFIKPO NORTH L.G.A OF EBONYI STATE

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out on the effect of service quality on customers retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State. The study involved 330 hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State. The study thus reached a total of 292 respondents, sampled on a stratified random sampling method, from the customers. Respondents were presented with descriptive statements in a 5-point and 4-point Likert scale on which they were required to rate by scoring the extent to which they perceived a particular statement as descriptive of the force in the corporations. The questionnaires were administered through drop and pick method to the respondents targeted. The questionnaires were coded and edited for completeness and consistency and entered into Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). Analysis involved descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis technique gave simple summaries about the sample data in quantitative descriptions and included, mean, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. The response rate was 292 respondents which is 87.95% of the respondents. Majority of whom were male which represented 53.77% while 46.23% were female. The findings indicated that majority (37.3%) of the respondents was between 41 and 50 years implying that the respondents were old enough to provide valuable responses. The study concluded that the Hotels have good looking facilities, physical facilities are visually appealing, the findings also concluded that the hotels perform their services right the first time. The study recommended that the Hotels should have good looking facilities and visually appealing to the customers, also that employees should be neat appearing, that the materials associated with the services (such as pamphlets) should be visually appealing, that the hotels should always keep their promises.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Service quality has long been recognized as one of the most decisive factors shaping customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately retention within the hospitality industry, an inherently service-intensive sector where the intangibility, perishability, and labour-intensive nature of the product make consistent quality delivery both especially important and especially difficult to achieve. The most widely applied framework for assessing service quality in this context remains the SERVQUAL model, developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry, which evaluates service quality across five core dimensions: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy, a framework that continues to underpin much of the recent Nigerian hospitality research on this subject.

Recent studies applying this framework within Nigerian hotel settings provide consistent, empirically grounded support for the relationship between service quality and customer outcomes. A study of service quality management and customer satisfaction among five-star hotels in Abuja found an exceptionally strong relationship between service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction, with regression analysis showing that variation in service quality accounted for the overwhelming majority of variation in customer satisfaction levels, underscoring just how central service quality is to guest satisfaction outcomes in the Nigerian hotel context (Madu & Ahmed, 2024). This strong relationship is corroborated by research specifically examining hotels in South East Nigeria, geographically proximate to the present study's Ebonyi State location: a study applying the Lodging Quality Index model to 3-star hotels in Onitsha and Enugu found that service quality dimensions, including tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, confidence, and communication, each had strong relationships with customer satisfaction, and that customer satisfaction itself had a strong relationship with behavioural intentions, meaning satisfied guests were significantly more willing to recommend, revisit, and leave positive reviews of the hotels (Okocha, Agina, & Ojiula, 2021).

Beyond satisfaction and behavioural intention specifically, research on event-based hospitality services in Bida, Nigeria similarly found that dimensions of service quality significantly predicted customer satisfaction within the hospitality industry, reinforcing the applicability of the SERVQUAL-derived framework across different hospitality service contexts within Nigeria (Hauwa Kulu & Olufunke Bola, 2023). This body of Nigerian evidence builds on earlier foundational research establishing the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction within the Nigerian hotel industry specifically, which first demonstrated the applicability of the SERVQUAL framework to the distinct operating conditions of Nigerian hospitality businesses (Ojo, 2010).

Taken together, this literature confirms a consistent and well-established relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction across multiple Nigerian hotel contexts, and further suggests, through behavioural intention findings, a plausible pathway from service quality through satisfaction to customer retention specifically. It is against this established research background that the present study examines the effect of service quality on customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

While Nigerian research consistently confirms a strong relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction across hotel settings in Abuja, South East Nigeria, and Bida (Madu & Ahmed, 2024; Okocha, Agina, & Ojiula, 2021; Hauwa Kulu & Olufunke Bola, 2023), much of this existing research stops at satisfaction or behavioural intention as the outcome of interest, rather than directly examining actual customer retention as a distinct, subsequent outcome. Additionally, existing South East Nigeria evidence has focused on Onitsha and Enugu specifically, leaving a gap in evidence on how service quality relates to customer satisfaction and retention within hotels in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, a locality with its own distinct hospitality market characteristics. Without this localized, retention-focused evidence, hotel management within Afikpo North LGA risks relying on assumptions drawn from other localities when designing strategies to improve service quality and retain customers. It is this gap that the present study seeks to address.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

This section will have two objectives; a general objective and a specific objective. The objectives are highlighted below.

1.3.1 General Objective

This was to determine the effect of service quality on customer retention in the hospitality industry in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. To achieve this, the specific objectives are outlined in section 1.3.2.

1.3.2 Specific Objectives

1. To determine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.
2. To determine the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.
3. To determine the relationship between service quality and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What is the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State?
2. What is the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State?
3. What is the relationship between service quality and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between customer satisfaction and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between service quality and customer retention in hotels in Afikpo North L.G.A of Ebonyi State.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study will benefit hotel management and owners in Afikpo North LGA by providing evidence to guide investment in specific service quality dimensions most strongly linked to customer retention. It will benefit hospitality industry regulators and associations, by clarifying service standards relevant to customer loyalty. It will benefit customers, by encouraging hotels to improve the tangible and intangible aspects of service delivery. It will benefit hospitality management students and researchers, by providing localized evidence to complement existing studies from other parts of Nigeria. Finally, the study will serve as a reference for future researchers examining service quality and customer retention in the Nigerian hospitality industry.

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study is limited to examining the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer retention among hotels in Afikpo North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, drawing on the perspectives of hotel customers.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The reliance on self-reported perceptions of service quality and satisfaction may be subject to social desirability or recall bias. The study's sample, while substantial, was drawn from a specific local government area and may not be fully generalizable to hotels in other parts of Ebonyi State or Nigeria more broadly. Time and resource constraints limited the depth of data collection achievable within the study period.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Service Quality: The degree to which a service meets or exceeds customer expectations, typically assessed across dimensions such as tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy.

Customer Satisfaction: A customer's overall evaluation of their experience with a product or service, based on a comparison of expectations and perceived performance.

Customer Retention: The ability of a business to retain its customers over time, reflected in repeat patronage and continued loyalty.

Tangibility: The physical appearance of facilities, equipment, and personnel, as a dimension of service quality.

Behavioural Intentions: A customer's stated or likely future actions, such as recommending, revisiting, or leaving positive reviews of a business.

REFERENCES

Hauwa Kulu, B., & Olufunke Bola, I. (2023). Event service quality and customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry in Bida, Nigeria. GPH-International Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 6(02), 35–48. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7791195

Madu, J. E., & Ahmed, H. A. F. (2024). Service quality management and customer satisfaction for hotel service in Abuja, Nigeria. British International Journal of Business and Marketing Research.

Ojo, O. (2010). The relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in the Nigerian hotel industry. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(14), 117–125.

Rejoice Okocha, E., Agina, E. K., & Ojiula, U. B. (2021). Service quality, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions: Application of Lodging Quality Index model on hotels in South East, Nigeria. British Journal of Marketing Studies, 9(4), 18–35.