Investigating the Effect of Construction Companies’ Marketing Mix on the Experience of Customers in the Gulf Region

Date

2019-06

Advisors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

ISSN

DOI

Volume Title

Publisher

De Montfort University

Type

Thesis or dissertation

Peer reviewed

Abstract

Customer experience is paramount for companies given their dynamic environment, which focus on the role of processes initiated by firms to help consumers realise and consolidate their expectations for the entire duration of engagement. Hence, it facilitates the company's growth and leads to a further increase in profits. While research pertaining to the field of customer service has long proven fruitful, it has shown to be increasingly complicated in the digital age, thereby meriting even greater consideration. Specifically, a lucid mechanism as to how the 7Ps of the marketing mix directly affect client experience has not yet been determined, as no extant studies have undertaken a detailed investigation of this area. The need to establish such an investigation becomes more pressing in wake of the fact that practical field observations have indicated a drastic decline in customers’ experience in the construction industry of the Gulf region. Against this backdrop, the current study intends to identify key attributes of individual marketing mix elements that affect the customer experience in the Gulf region’s construction companies, an area which has not been examined thoroughly in previous researches. In this regard, a positivism approach was adopted for this study whereby primary data collection was obtained through surveying 400 respondents who were managers of construction companies in addition to another 400 who represented customers of construction companies of the following four Gulf region countries: Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia. Then the data was analysed using SmartPLS v.2 software, the results of inferential statistical tests (e.g., t-tests, correlation, and MANOVA) were assessed for statistical significance using p-values. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was implemented to distribute data over a smaller set of factors. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was then used to ensure the identity, discriminant validity, convergent validity, and internal consistency reliability of each factor. At the end of the investigation, it was found that the effect of all factors of marketing mix is significant on the customer experience. However, from the standpoint of the company, physical evidence and process emerged as the most significant factor and least significant factor, respectively in improving customer experience. Besides, the analysis of customers suggested that the effect of all 7Ps was significant on the customer experience. The most significant factor was found to be process along with price and product, whereas the promotion by construction companies emerged as xiv the least important consideration. The effect of all factors in the case of both customers and companies was found to be positive, which indicated that betterment in any of the 7Ps would lead to betterment of customer experience in the Gulf region’s construction industry, which can ultimately help increase customer satisfaction. Based on the analysis and comparison, a difference between company expectations and customers’ perceptions was found as both tended to concur on different levels with respect to each factor present in 7Ps. In addition, the difference between actual and expected marketing mix was found using the technique of average differencing. This made it evident that the managers’ expectations deviate from customer expectations pertaining to the products offered by construction companies. Moreover, the research further analysed the differences in terms of demographic variables. The effect of all demographic variables was explored to be significant in terms of customer experience. Additionally, it was observed that age, educational level, and the management level of employees have strong positive effects on the marketing mix practiced by construction companies, whereas, the educational level of customer was found to have a significantly positive effect on customer experience and satisfaction. Notably, this study has contributed significantly to the academic literature underpinning the topic of marketing mix and customer experience. Hence, the construction companies operating in the Gulf region stand to benefit from the findings, specifically by aligning their marketing strategies in accordance with the ranked significance of the factors of 7Ps of marketing on part of the customers. More precisely, it is possible to narrow down the differences through effective techniques by incorporating customers’ stance and variable responses on the basis of demographic variables in the strategies, as opposed to myopically relying on the aspects proposed by internal bodies or authorities of the construction companies.

Description

Keywords

Citation

Rights

Research Institute

Collections