Relationship marketing and consumer buying behavior in food and beverage firms in port harcourt metropolis
This study investigated the impact of relationship marketing on consumer buying behavior in the food and beverage firms in Port Harcourt metropolis. The study also seeks to find out whether considerable pricing system, quality product and service offering and effective and efficient customer service unit affect consumer buying behavior. This study adopted descriptive research design. The populations are all customers of all food and beverage drinks firms in Port Harcourt. A sample size of 375 persons was randomly selected while 358 questionnaires were successfully retrieved and used for the analysis. Sample size was determined using Morgan Krejcie table (1970). Data was collected by use of questionnaire. Three research questions were posed and three hypotheses were tested. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics while inferential statistics e.g. Pearson product moment correlation coefficient was used to test the stated hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that food and beverage firms in Port Harcourt lack considerable pricing system which affect consumer buying behavior negatively; that quality product and service offering impact customers’ referral and that effective and efficient customer service unit enhance customer loyalty in food and beverage firms in Port Harcourt. The study concluded that relationship marketing affect consumer buying behavior in food and beverage firms Port Harcourt.