QUALITY DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGIES: IMPLICATIONS FOR EDIBLE OILS MANUFACTURING FIRMS IN KENYA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46827/ejmms.v8i3.1609Keywords:
quality differentiation strategies, firm performance, product performance, conformance, reliabilityAbstract
The study sought to establish the effect of quality differentiation strategies (product performance, conformance, and reliability) on the performance (sales volume, profitability, and market share) of edible oils manufacturing firms in Kenya. A causal research design was adopted for the study which was underpinned by the economic theory of product differentiation. The target population was 104 middle and top-level managers from the marketing departments of the edible oils manufacturing firms in Kenya. Complete enumeration was used to include all 104 respondents as the study’s sample size. Primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23 and the results were presented in table forms. The results revealed that quality differentiation strategies had a positive and significant effect on the performance of the edible oils manufacturing firms in Kenya with p values 0.001 < 0.05. The study recommended that manufacturing firms should apply all the quality differentiation strategies and continuously conduct market research to identify the quality needs of the customers in order to implement strategies that will lead to quality products.
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