PHD-Department of Tourism Management

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Browsing PHD-Department of Tourism Management by Subject "Kenya"

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    Opinion Leadership in Online Travel Communities and the Purchase of Hotel Products and Services in Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2020) Mengo, Nyabisi; Esther Kagure Munyiri; Mary Mutisya Mutungi
    Opinion leaders are individuals who influence opinions, behaviour, beliefs, and purchase decisions of people in their social circles. Opinion leaders have been studied extensively in a traditional offline context, but little attention has been given to them online especially in high involvement products like hospitality. The main objective of this study was to investigate opinion leaders in an online context and their influence on the purchasing of the hotel product in Kenya. Specific objectives were to discover who opinion leaders in an online travel community are; investigate personal characteristics travel opinion leaders display online; explore their online communication behaviour; and to explore the role of non-opinion leaders and the moderating effect of management responses to reviews in influencing the purchase of hotel products in Kenya. The research was carried out on mainly TripAdvisor within the context of Kenya as a destination. An explanatory sequential design was used with two phases: a quantitative phase followed by the qualitative phase. The quantitative phase used three methods to achieve the objectives: expert identification, sociometry, and an experiment. Purposive, census and random sampling techniques were used. Respondents for expert identification were 563, with 368 from the experiment and 131 from sociometry. The qualitative phase used content analysis of information from TripAdvisor. Instruments used were semi-structured questionnaires and observation checklists. Data analysis involved the use of descriptive statistics where correlation, regression, ANOVA, Seven-degree index and content analysis were used to analyse relationships between variables. Findings endorse the robustness of the Seven-degree index as a tool for measuring opinion leadership in online communities. Destination Kenya travel opinion leaders are mainly male (54.7%) baby boomers (51%) who shun self-disclosure online (66%) and travel mainly for business (39%). Opinion leaders influence other customers during purchase of hotel products even though their effect is relatively small (β=0.265). They are more trusted and are considered more reliable than other travellers due to their expertise in travel and consistency in providing reliable information. Non-opinion leader reviews are only trusted by other customers if their reviews occur in large numbers (β=0.257). Management responses have no intervening effect with opinion leaders (F (1,321) = .192, p = .661). Customers trust opinion leaders more than management; when management responds to opinion leader reviews. Opinion leaders are more likely to use rational and logic words, and score highly in systematic and rational thinking. The study proposes marketers include online opinion leaders in integrated marketing communications as they are a key influential group online. It is important to understand opinion leaders and how they behave online as it will help in designing subliminal marketing campaigns and behavioural targeting that resonate with opinion leaders, which in turn targets other customers of similar characteristics. This would lead to achieving Vision 2030 and SDG goals in Tourism, in areas such as Development of Niche Products, Destination Marketing Programmes, and Marketing Kenya.
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    Risk Exposure and Management Strategies as Determinants of Customers’ Satisfaction In Selected Golf Clubs Within Nairobi City and Kiambu Counties, Kenya.
    (2022) Mwangi, Paul Nderitu; Moses Ngatia Miricho; Vincent Nyamari Maranga
    Risks have been reported to hamper operation and customer satisfaction in various service-based organizations. In golf clubs, the main objectives are to enhance quality and safe services and facilities, which in turn satisfy and attract customers (golfers). For a golf clubs management to achieve customer satisfaction, they must examine operational risks and make decisions to counter their effects. Today golf clubs are experiencing poor management practices, weak governance, and difficulties related to membership growth. This study investigated risk exposure and management strategies as determinants of the customer satisfaction in selected golf clubs within golf clubs in Nairobi City and Kiambu Counties, Kenya. This study had five specific objectives as follow; to evaluate the influence of risk exposure on customer satisfaction, to examine the relationship between the management strategies and customers satisfaction, to establish the relationship between corporate governance and customers satisfaction, to establish the relationship between environmental conservation strategies and customer satisfaction and, to investigate the moderating effects of demographic factors on the relationship between risk exposure and management strategies and customer satisfaction. The cross-sectional descriptive survey was adopted where questionnaires, interviews, observation checklists and secondary sources provided the data. The study population was 31,159 individuals comprising of clubs’ captains, golf managers, professional trainers, customers, and caddies where a sample of 799 respondents was drawn. The qualitative data was ordered, coded, then, summarized into themes while descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted on the quantitative data. Descriptive analysis was conducted on demographic data. Regressions analyses were employed to determine the relationships existing between variables. In addition, multiple regression analyses were applied to establish the impact of the predictors on the study’s dependent variable. Regression analysis assisted in determining relationships between the four predictors and customers’ satisfaction. The findings indicated significant influences of risk exposure to customer satisfaction with p=0.017<0.05. It was also established that risk management strategies and customer satisfaction had a statistically significant relationship with p=0.008<0.05. Further analysis established significant relationships between corporate governance and customer satisfaction with a p=0.045<0.05. Environmental conservation strategies and customer satisfaction had a statistically significant relationship established by p=0.003<0.05. Additionally, the findings established that golf industry context indicators and customers had no statistically significant relationship with a p=0.866>0.05. Based on the analysis, the R-value was established as 0.829 denoting a high correlation between the predictors and dependent variable. A resulting R2 (Square) value obtained was 0.687, indicating that risk exposure and management strategies explained 68.7% of Customer Satisfaction. The ANOVA results showed the f-statistics = 11.715 and p=0.000<0.05 denoting that the model of regression obtained was significant statistically. Multiple regressions established that all the β-values (beta) were positive indicating positive and significant relationship existed between the study variables. This study recommended that the golf clubs’ management formulate and implement effective risk management policies for ultimate customers (golfers) satisfaction. The study further recommended that good corporate governance; effective risk management and conservation strategies ought to be implemented as part of customers’ satisfaction goal within the golf clubs.