ABSTRACT

Customer service is an important aspect of whole business process. In today‟s global competitive environment delivering quality service is considered as an essential strategy for success and survival. The general objective of the study aims at determining the effect of marketing communication strategies and service quality in the Mobile Phone service providers in Kenya, and the specific objectives of the study to establish the effect of advertising and service quality in the Mobile Phone service providers in Kenya, to determine the influence of sales promotion and service quality in the Mobile Phone service providers in Kenya, to investigate the influence of publicity and service quality in the Mobile Phone service providers in Kenya and to establish the effect of public relations and service quality in the Mobile Phone Industry in Kenya. The study is guided by the following theories; relationship marketing theory, hierarchy of effects theory and service quality theory. The study employed a descriptive research design. This study focused on 1050 staffs from the marketing, ICT and customer service departments of the four mobile phone network providers in Kenya. The study used stratified sampling method. The target population has1050 staffs, therefore by use of Krejcie and Morgan‟s method of determination of a sample size the eventual sample size obtained was composed of 276 respondents. Primary data was collected by means of a semi- structured questionnaire. Test-retest technique of reliability testing was employed. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics (measures of central tendency, regression and measures of variations) with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 to achieve the objectives of the study. The findings were presented using tables, frequencies and percentages. The study concluded that advertising, sales promotion, publicity and public relations positively influence service quality in the Mobile Phone service providers in Kenya. The study established that the mobile phone service providers in Kenya is extremely competitive due to competition from well established firms in the global market. Therefore, this study recommends that the Government of Kenya to intervene and support these companies through stimulating declining firms in order to promote social –economic development